Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky (Adaptation story)
by SerenaTheHedgehog
Summary: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2 Adaptation! Time is out of wack bringing darkness upon the Pokemon World. Please read. (Summaries are not my thing). There is a poll that will help me decide on some important things that will happen closer to the end of the story. Please check out the poll on my profile! Picture is Photoshoped by me.
1. Chapter 1 Storm at Sea

**New Story! Gosh it has been ages. College has been keeping me busy. Please let me know if you have any ideas to add and I may consider them. I will plan on following the game's plot-line, but mini missions and stuff like that I am a bit short on ideas for. (Poll up on my profile for a certain major plot point!)**

 **Full Summary: _Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/of the Sky Adaptation... with a few twists. I didn't know who I was, or why I was found unconscious on a beach, but I am almost certain that I was not a Pokémon before. I can only hope that with the help of my new friend, Volt (who is a Rotom), I can regain my lost memories. I cannot shake the feeling that I am forgetting something very important, but what...?_**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon and sadly never will. The OC's are mine though. I've named my characters Volt (partner Pok** **émon** **) and Nera (my main character).**

Talking

 _Thinking_

 **Yelling/Flashback**

* * *

 **~Flash~ *Ba-Boom* *Wind howling* *Ba-Boom* *Cr-rack* *BA-BOOM***

 **?: "Whoa... wh-whoa!"**

 **?: "Are... Are you okay?!"**

 ***Boom* *Booom* ~Flash~**

 **?: "No! Don't let go! Just a little longer... Come on! Hang on!"**

 **~Flash~**

 **?: "N-no! I can't... Hold on...! Waaah!"**

 **~FLASH~**

 **?: _"... Urgh... Where... Where am I?... I can't... Drifting off..."_**

* * *

Chapter 1: A Storm at Sea

(Volt's POV)

"Oh, wow! What a pretty sight!" I exclaimed. The Krabby were blowing bubbles at the beach. The slowly fading light creating beautiful and colorful sparkles in them. A gently breeze carried them along slowly. It was a beautiful sunset. The water too shimmered as the light shone upon it.

"When the weather's good, the Krabby come out at sundown to blow bubbles... All those bubbles, catching the setting sun's rays off the waves... It's always beautiful," I thought with a content sigh.

"... This is where I always go when I'm feeling down on myself. But it makes me feel better, like always. Coming here is uplifting." I said with a small smile as I remembered why I was feeling upset.

 ***Flashback Volt's POV***

 **"Hmm..." I sighed, pacing back and forth outside of the Wigglytuff Guild tent.**

 **"No, I refuse to be paralyzed by this any longer!" I declared. "I _will_ become an official Explorer." I said, floating forward and jumped when I heard a voice coming from below me. I observed that I had stepped onto a platform that looked like it was made out of bamboo covering a hole**

 **"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" a voice called out from below my feet.**

 **"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" another voice echoed.**

 **"The footprint is Rotom's! "The footprint is Rotom's!" the first voice called back to the second.**

 **"Waah!" I yelped floating backwards. "That was too shocking!"**

 **"... Whew... *sigh*... I can't... I can't work up the courage to go in, after all..." I mumbled to myself.**

 **"I told myself that this is the day, but..." I placed my most prized possession in front of me.**

 **"I thought that holding onto my personal treasure would inspire me... *sigh* I just can't do it. I'm such a coward... This is discouraging..." I gave another dejected sigh as I put my treasure back. (Wherever that magic space is)**

 **I decided to head to the beach. Maybe seeing the sun set would make me feel better.**

 ***Flashback End***

I saw something further down the beach that catches my eye.

"Hey... What's that over there?" I wonder aloud as I approach a figure lying in the sand.

* * *

(Nera's POV)

"..." *the sound of waves crashing loudly in the background* _"... the ocean?"_

"... Hey... -re you ok?" I hear a voice asking frantically. _Urgh_. My head is pounding and the sound of the waves drowns out some of what he says.

 _"...Who is it? Are they talking to me... ugh... my head hurts... but... I guess I should answer... ,"_ I thought to myself.

"... Hey!" the voice called out, sounding a bit anxious. I opened my eyes slightly to see to big turquoise-blue eyes staring at me. I blinked. I opened my eyes a bit more now that my eyes had adjusted to the light. I saw an orange body that was floating. Little bits of plasma (?) shaped like lightning bolts that twitched at the slightest wind. Definitely a Rotom.

" _The owner of the voice... is a Rotom... Wait, **WHAT**!" _ I mentally screamed. The only sound that left my mouth was a small "Eep." The Rotom floated close to my face with a curious expression on its face.

"Oh, good. You're awake!" the Rotom sighed floating back a few paces. It's voice still had a faint echo, something that I found was a common trait amongst most ghost types. I shuddered slightly. _"Odd... have I had bad past experiences with ghost-types... this Rotom seems very nice, after all..."_ I wondered as I finally got the world to stop spinning. I am on a beach (that much is obvious. But why... _Where am I exactly...?_

"You weren't moving at all. I was seriously worried!" the Rotom said.

"What were you doing out here? Do you remember how you ended up zonked out here?" he asked with a curious expression. _Kinda cute..._

"Well, I'm Tetravolt, but you can call me "Volt". Glad to meet you! And who are you?" he greeted cheerfully.

"I'm a human" I say simply. _"Although, how I can understand you is beyond me..."_ I muttered under my breath.

"What! You're a human?!" he exclaimed sounding extremely shocked.

 _"Is he saying I don't look human?"_ I thought to myself feeling slightly disturbed and a bit annoyed.

"You look like a totally normal Froslass to me!" he continued sounding concerned. My jaw near dropped. I slowly looked down at myself. I _floated_ there gasping slightly.

 _"It-it's true! I've turned into a Froslass!"_ I mentally screamed. I looked at my arms which were shaped like the wide sleeves on a kimono with three small clawed fingers at the ends of each fin. A red stripe went all the way across my stomach around to my back where I felt two red fins were sticking out of my back giving the impression that I was wearing a red obi sash. I felt the top of my head and felt two short pointy horns on top of my head. Looking down, I felt that was what gave me the greatest shock: I was floating and... **I have NO LEGS!**

 _"How did this happen?"_ I wondered in shock. _"I don't remember anything..."_

"You're... a little odd..." Volt said looking at me strangely.

"Are your pulling some kind of trick on me?" he asked with a slightly wary expression. I shook my head no so rapidly that I thought my head might fall off. _It feels so weird to have my arms being attached to my head..._

"... All right, then. Your name?" he said shaking his head a little. "What's your name?" he asked repeating the question since I had not really taken notice of it before because I was still getting used to the fact that I had somehow woken up as a Froslass.

"My name is Nera," I finally answer.

"Nera? That's an interesting name," Volt said with a smile.

"Well, you don't seem to be a bad Pokémon, at least." he sighed happily with a smile. He winced as he added, "Sorry that I doubted you. It's just that there have been more and more bad Pokémon turning up lately, you see!"

"Many Pokémon have gotten more aggressive lately, so things have grown somewhat lawless-" he started to explain when two Pokémon suddenly crashed into him.

"Ouch" he cried out as they knocked him to the ground. I saw something fall on the ground; it looked like a rock. _Odd, why would anyone be wandering around with a rock..._

"Well, I do beg your pardon." a Pokémon that I recognized to be a Koffing sneered. Volt was quickly back upright with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Why'd you do that?!" he asked/demanded.

"Heh-heh-heh! Can't figure it out?" another poison type, a Zubat asked condescendingly. "We wanted to mess with you! Can't face up to us, can you!" he added cockily. Volt's face fell. His confidence seemed to have disappeared.

"Wh-What?!" Volt asked fearfully.

"That's yours, isn't it?" the Zubat asked pointing a wing at the stone that Volt dropped. Volt gasped.

"No! That's...!" Volt sputtered helplessly.

"Sorry, kiddo. We'll take that!" Zubat said as he swiped it off the ground. Koffing laughed.

"Not gonna make a move to get that back?" Koffing asked, "What's the matter? Too scared?"

"I didn't expect that you'd be such a big coward," Koffing shrugged.

"C'mon," he said facing his partner, "Let's get out of here."

"See you around, chicken." Zubat taunted as the two flew/floated off into the nearby cave laughing. I watched them go with disgust etched into my masked face. Volt looked devastated.

"Wh-what should I do?" Volt asked. "That's my personal treasure. it means everything to me... if I lose that..." tears started to form in his eyes. _Oh dear lord... please... not the sad kicked-Growlithe-look... Oh, Arceus... *Phew* It looks like he is snapping out of it._ I thought to myself. I know it sounds kind of mean, but he didn't grow up in a world of dar-... _Odd... wonder where that thought came from..._

"No! There's no time to waste! I've got to get it back!" he said with determination.

"Can I ask you to help me?" he asks turning to me

"... Sure. I'd be happy to," I replied cracking my knuckles. He flinches at the sound.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **A/N: So how do you all like this story so far? Have any of you played the Mystery Dungeon series? It is so much fun. The Time, Darkness, and Explorers of the Sky are my favorite versions with Red and Blue being my second favorite versions. Which ones are yours? Please be sure to let me know what you think of this story so far and if I should continue it. It could technically be a one-shot if I tie up a couple of loose ends. I would like to make this a story that I actually complete though. Anyways, I'm not rambling so I'm gonna stop here.**

 **Read and Review for next Chapter plz!**


	2. Chapter 2 Welcome to Wigglytuff's Guild!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! I only own the names of that of my character (Nera) and my partner Pokémon (Tetravolt a.k.a. "Volt")**

 **EDIT (05/13/16): I reread this chapter and boy were there a bunch of typos! I hope that I got them all in this Chapter. I am doing a proofread session right now and fixing any mistakes that I catch.**

Talking

 _Thinking_

 **Chapter 2 Welcome to Wigglytuff's Guild: The Training Begins!**

(Nera's POV)

The Beach Cave was crawling with Corsola, Kabuto, Shellder, and Shellos. Volt's electric attacks were good for sweeping through them. I used my ice type moves to stun them or at least slow them down making it easier for my partner to hit them. I would occasionally lob a Shadow Ball to get my point across. As far as I could tell, Volt is a fairly passive Pokémon. These Wilds are ridiculous! We don't even go near them and they come chasing after us as though we've insulted them for simply being here! Good grief... At least I was getting some practice with learning how to use Moves.

"I didn't think that the Pokémon would be this agitated," Volt admitted. He let loose a quick Thunder Wave at a Corsola which let out a frightened cry before falling over Paralyzed. I shrugged. He should know this world better than I do.

Who knew that the seemingly tiny the exterior of the cave led to such a complex maze. I also think that it was paranoia, but I could swear that the layout changed as we walked through... After about an hour or so, we had gone as far in as we could.

* * *

(Volt's POV)

"Uh... Hey, you!" I stammered internally wincing at how pathetic and scared I sounded. The two poison types turned around to face us.

"Well, well, well..." Koffing said with a smirk. Zubat chuckled in the background. "If it isn't our old friend, the big chicken" Koffing finished.

"... Give me... Give me back what you stole from me, you dirty crooks!" I shouted with as much fierceness as I could muster. "That's my personal treasure and it means a lot to me!" I said mentally patting myself on the back to not letting my voice shake this time.

"Treasure, you say?" Zubat asked eagerly. "So this thing really is valuable, huh?"

"It could be worth more than we'd hoped for, I'd say. We ought to try selling it. Who knows? It might get a good price." Koffing added looking at my stolen piece greedily.

"Whaaat!" I shouted alarmed at the prospect of my precious treasure being on the black market. Zubat was laughing at me and said, "If you want it back so badly, come and get it!" Koffing and Zubat both charged us at the same time. I flinched. I suddenly felt a blast of cold air coming from behind me on my right. _Nera?!_

Zubat had flown right into the Icy Wind and yelped as frost formed on his wings causing him to fall back. I shook my head. "I need to focus," I thought determinedly. I let off a quick Shock Wave at Zubat effectively putting him out of the fight. Koffing glared at us, but I could see a glimmer of unease in his eyes. He fired off a Smokescreen trying to make a break for it. Nera was swift to put an end to that though as she she fired a Shadow Ball straight through the cloud of smoke. A yelp told me that the attack had hit its mark.

"Owwowow..." Koffing groaned. Zubat groaned in pain as he also tried to get his bearings.

"B-blast it... How'd we get wiped out by wimps like you?" Koffing grumbled angrily.

"Che... Here, take it, then," Zubat hissed chucking my treasure down at Nera's shadow.

"Don't think you're so awesome. Your victory was just a fluke!" Koffing said as he collected himself.

"Yeah," Zubat chimed in. "You just remember that!" Koffing spat out another smokescreen and the two poison types fled.

"My Relic Fragment!" I shouted as I picked up my precious treasure. "Am I ever glad... I actually got it back." I thought letting out a relieved sigh.

"Thank you, Nera," I said.

"It's only because you agreed to help me, Nera." I said bowing slightly. We floated back to the beach entrance and I decided that I could trust Nera. I showed her the Relic stone. It wasn't very large, only about four inches in diameter. But the inscription on it formed a strange pattern. I am sure that it means something. I explained to my new friend on how I had come across it in a cave somewhere.

"You see, I've always been interested in legends and lore... Don't you? Uncharted territories veiled in darkness and mystery.. New lands to be discovered...," I trail off thinking about the treasures that were just waiting to be discovered. Nera shrugged her shoulders looking contemplative of my words.

* * *

(Nera's POV)

After exiting the cave, Volt would not stop talking! He showed me his Relic Fragment looking very proud of himself.

 _"It's true. There is a strange inscription."_ I thought to myself. I looked at it feeling a bit intrigued myself. _I've never seen a pattern like this... have I...?_

"I want to join an exploration team to find out where this Relic Fragment originally came from! It must fit into something somewhere and I want to discover where that is. I want to solve the mystery of my Relic Fragment!" Volt said sounding resolute. His happy expression dropped a bit a moment later. Before I could ask what was wrong, he continued speaking.

"I tried joining an exploration team as an apprentice… But… I chickened out." Volt sighed dejectedly.

"What about you, Nera?" Volt asked addressing me, "What are you going to do now?"

"You lost your memory and now you somehow transformed into a Pokémon… Do you have anywhere to go and stay after this?" Volt questioned look a bit hopeful. I felt the instinct to back away at the starry eyed look in his eyes but ignored it.

"If not, can I ask a big favor? Would you be willing to form an exploration team with me?" he asked with large hopeful eyes. I averted my gaze looking uncharacteristically shy. My mind was going a hundred mile a second.

 _"Wah! What should I do? I'm getting recruited out of the blue! I don't even know what an "exploration team" is… What should I do? Should I join Volt and form an exploration team?"_ I asked myself these question in my mind before looking back at Volt. _Dang it… I can't say no to that face… It's true, I don't have anywhere to go and no direction either… I guess I have my answer…_

"Ok, I'll join you," I say out loud. _Maybe I'll eventually discover who or what I am by hanging out with this_ _Pokémon_.

"Really! You'll form an exploration team with me? Yes! Thank you!" Volt shouted happily.

"We're going to be a great combination!" he said excitedly.

"First things first, we should go to Wigglytuff's place and sign up as apprentices. That's where we need to train to become a first-rate exploration team." Volt said.

"We can't just start up on our own? You seem to know a lot about exploring," I pointed out. I did not see the point of joining a bunch of other kids in learning how to explore. I mean, come on, you pick a location; you go there; you find treasure; it seems rather simple…

"Wigglytuff's Guild is led by the great Explorer Wigglytuff. He has found all sorts of treasure and is very experienced. We can learn a lot. Plus, we need supplies. I am sure that the guild will provide us with them," Volt explained. He seems set on going to Wigglytuff's Guild… I shrug my arms and made a 'lead the way' kind of gesture. Volt floated happily towards the hill that led up to an *obnoxious* tent that was shaped like a Wigglytuff. The "eye-holes" on the tent looked like they were glowing and it gave me the chills… and I am a Froslass for Arceus's sake!

"…Isn't this place just a little bit scary?" Volt asked sweat dropping slightly. I silently agreed with my new partner.

 _"Because a giant tent in the shape of a Wigglytuff isn't scary enough, it has to have those large hollow eyes that glow... Terrifying,"_ I thought, though I didn't say any of my thoughts out loud. To Volt, I simply shrugged my shoulders/arms (still feels weird when I do that).

"I have to be brave now!" Volt said taking a deep breath. He floated low to the ground over the grate.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" I heard a loud voice call from within the hole.

"The footprint is Volt's! The footprint is Volt's!" A softer voice called back. What I was wondering was how they could tell from simply looking at the outline of a footprint who the Pokémon is... _What if it doesn't have a 'footprint'... like ghost-types in general (*cough* Ghastly, *cough* Volt, *cough* ME)._

"You may ENTER... Get your friend up on the grate!" The loud voice shouted. I jumped slightly. How did they know I was there?! I hesitated for a moment.

"Hey, you! Get on the Grate!" The loud voice yelled sounding impatient. I floated over the grate. The Pokémon below repeated the routine until-

"The footprint is... The footprint is umm..." The softer voice stuttered.

"What's wrong, sentry?! Sentry?! Sentry?! What's wrong sentry Diglett?!" The loud voice called.

"Umm... The footprint is... Maybe Froslass! Maybe Froslass!" Diglett shouted.

"What?! MAYBE?!" the loud voice shouted back.

"But—but it's not a footprint you see around here…" Diglett defended.

"Ugh! Isn't checking the footprints of Pokémon your JOB!? You should recognize THIS one!" the loud voice chastised.

"Yes, but…I don't know what I don't know!" Diglett said. The two argued back and forth for a little while. I considered calling out to them, but it was not necessary.

"SORRY to make you WAIT! It's TRUE there aren't many Froslass in these parts, but you don't SEEM to be bad…Good enough! You may ENTER!" the loud voice shouted up to us. The gate opened with a loud clank.

 _"I've been getting through a lot lately by not seeming to be a bad Pokémon…"_ I thought with a sweat-drop. Were the Pokémon here just really nice and naive, or was I just lucky so far... I shook my head of these thoughts and entered the tent. A bamboo step ladder led down to a lower level. I did't bother climbing down and just jumped. I floated a foot off of the ground of the first lower floor and Volt followed my lead (in just floating down; it wasn't as though we had legs anyways). Looking around, I could see many different Pokémon running around. Some were chatting in groups over by bulletin boards that were to the left and right of the ladders while others were just meandering. I saw a Swellow and a Wurmple.

 _"Huh. That's an interesting team, for sure... Although that Wurmple looks a bit nervous. Can't say I blame him though,"_ I thought as I watched a Wurmple twitch every time that his partner (a Swellow) fluttered his wings. I heard him muttering to himself about how he chose a scary team name "Team Tasty," I think it was. Swellow was chirping about how his partner chose their team name and then said it sounded Tasty not noticing his partner flinch at the statement. I couldn't help but silently and slowly glide away with a sweatdrop thinking _Ok..._

"Wow! This is Wigglytuff's Guild! It looks like there are a lot of exploration teams here…" Volt said, excited that his dream of becoming part of an Exploration team was going to become a reality.

* * *

(Volt's POV)

"Excuse me!" I heard a sharp voice call out.

"Y-yes!" I responded turning towards the voice. It was a bird with a head shaped like a musical note.

"I'm Chatot! I'm the Pokémon in the know and Guildmaster Wigglytuff's right-hand Pokémon. We're very busy right now and don't have time for tours. Now, shoo! We have no time for salespeople or silly surveys! Off you go, if you please!" He said in a brisk manner. He made a shooing gesture with his wings.

"…But…we wanted to make an Exploration Team…" I protested. Chatot blinked in surprise and started muttering to himself.

"Hm. It's rare to see a kid like this want to be an explorer. Surely the steady stream of Pokémon who run away from our training prove how difficult it is!" I heard him muttter. I wasn't sure if he wanted us to hear it or not. Maybe he was testing it. I glanced toward Nera who had a blank expression on her face... _Odd_...

"Ummm...," I started timidly.

"…Is it really that bad?" I asked.

"What? Oh—No, of course not!" Chatot said flapping his wings in a frantic gesture.

"Our Exploration Team training is as easy can be! In fact, you should sign up immediately! Hee-hee!" He laughed although it looked a little strange. I shared a look with my new partner.

"What a shift in attitude!" I thought. Looking at Nera, I could see that her eyes were squinting ever so slightly in confusion.

"Okay, let's get your team signed up right away! Follow me!" Chatot called as he headed down another ladder.

"Most apprentices work here. Team registration is this way, so come along please~" Chatot called. I floated over to a window admiring the view of the last of the fading light. I couldn't restrain my amazement at such a feat.

"Wow! We're two floors underground, but you can see outside!" I exclaimed.

"But of course! The Guild is built into a cliff-side, after all. Now, here we are at Guildmaster Wigglytuff's chamber. On no account—I repeat: _No account_ —should you be discourteous to our Guildmaster." Chatot warned.

"Guildmaster! It's Chatot! I'm coming in!" The deputy called pushing open the wooden doors leading us into the Guildmaster's living quarters.

"Guildmaster…umm…Guildmaster?" Chatot called as he approached the pink Pokémon.

"Hi, I'm Wigglytuff! You want to form an exploration team!? Let's go for it! First, we must register your team's name! So, what is it?" Wigglytuff turned around so suddenly causing all of us to jump. Chatot let out a shocked squawk and flapped his wings.

"Oh! I didn't think of that! Hey Nera, what do you think would be a good name for us?" I asked turning towards my partner. She looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"... Esprit...?" Nera offered.

"Team Esprit... That's so…awesome! It's a perfect name for us!" I declared. Turning to Wigglytuff who nodded happily.

"All settled then! I'll register your team as Esprit!" He said sounding more excited as he continued.

"Registering! Registering... **YOOM-TAH!** " A mysterious light exuded from Wigglytuff causing us to flinch and Chatot to jump back.

 _"Huh... You'd think that he was used to this already, but then again... he did say that few tried and made the cut at the guild, so maybe it was not very often that he witnessed this strange ceremony,"_ I thought quickly getting over the shock. I saw Nera blink a few times looking a bit confused, but said nothing.

"Congratulations! From now on, you're an official exploration team! In commemoration, I present you with A Pokémon Exploration Team Kit! It's what every Pokémon Exploration Team needs! Quick, open it up!" Wigglytuff said enthusiastically.

 _"'Quick?' What happens if we don't open it in time?"_ I thought somewhat sarcastically. I mentally slapped myself for thinking such rude thoughts and opened the Kit.

There was an **Explorer Badge** inside…

And a **Wonder Map** … wonderful

And a **Treasure** **Bag**!

"Yes! There are all sorts of awesome things in here!" I said happily.

"Ooh, what's this awesome thing?" I asked picking up a decorated pin that was an Explorer Badge. Nera picked up the other matching pin holding up to the light to get a good look. The main piece was egg-shaped and off-white color. It had silver-white wings on the sides. The centerpiece actually looked like it was a pearl, what with the way it shone in the light. I watched as Nera's flashed slightly and changed color. Now the gem at the center of her badge was a ruby and the wing on the sides were gold. Chatot gasped and squawked. Wigglytuff had an excited gleam in his eye.

"That's your Explorer Badge. It's your official Explorer Team identification! There's your Wonder Map, which is a wonder of convenience! Finally, that one's a Treasure Bag! It lets you carry items you find in Dungeons!" Wigglytuff said pointing to each item as he identified them for us.

"Plus, he more successful your Exploration Team is, the bigger and bigger your Treasure Bag gets!" He said enthusiastically.

"…The bigger it gets? We don't get a new bag, and this one just gets bigger?" I asked slowly.

"Exactly!" Wigglytuff replied. Nera looked just as confused although her facial expression barely changed except for a movement of her hand in front of her face.

"…How does that work?" I asked.

"Mm-hm. It just does" Wigglytuff shrugged. Chatot also just shrugged. I guess even the knowledgeable Chatot doesn't know. I guess it is just another mystery that is yet to be understood...

"Anyways! ? Look inside!" Wigglytuff prompted impatiently.

The Zinc Band was inside!

A Fuchsia Bow was also inside!

"Those two items are special! I'm sure they'll help you on your adventures!" Wigglytuff added as Nera managed to tie the bow around her red striped belly camouflaging it pretty well.

"Oh, yeah! Before I forget... Why does Nera's badge look different after she picked it up?" I asked curious to find out. Wigglytuff glanced at Chatot who sighed and nodded.

"It would seem as though Nera has done quite a bit of exploring herself as an official explorer. The badge reads your experience in a sense. Nera's badge is an Ultra Rank badge because she must have had a lot of experience as an explorer. That is the only explanation I can give you. Is there anything else?" Chatot said. We both shook our heads.

"Thank you! We'll do our best!" I said. Nera dipped her head in a polite bow.

"Remember, you're only apprentices now. Do your best to train!" Wigglytuff replied waving Nera's formal thanks off kindly.

* * *

(Nera POV) Slightly later... the sun had gone down and the moon shone its pale white glow through the windows.

"Oh, wow! We get beds!" Volt exclaimed dropping onto the soft straw sending it flying for a moment before it drifted back down slowly.

 _"... Do Pokémon normally not expect to have beds?"_ I wondered as I felt the soft bed of straw. It was... Nice. I observed the room: small and plain, but not too cramped. _Meh, it could be worse..._

"You will live here while you work for us. Things will start getting busy for you tomorrow! So rise early and start living up to our code!" Chatot said happily.

"Huh? But you never told us a co-" Volt started.

"Good night!" Chatot called as he hopped back down the hall to his own quarters.

"... They never told us any code, did they?" Volt asked after a moment of silence.

"... I think that it was on the sign at the top of the ladder at the Guild's entrance." I replied shrugging. I drifted down into the straw and closed my eyes.

"…"

"…are you still awake, Nera?" Volt asked in a soft voice. I shifted slightly.

"Mm-hm…" I muttered in reply. I was tired, but I got the feeling that Volt had something important to say.

"My heart's been racing all day…but I'm glad I finally forced myself to come here. I thought Wigglytuff would be scary, but he was actually nice." Volt started.

"Yeah, Nice in a scary way. He sure likes to surprise a Pokémon." I interjected thinking back to when we first met him. Him turning around like that all of a sudden startled me a lot more than I was willing to let show at the time.

"Yeah..." Volt agreed laughing softly. I layed my head down on my arms (still felt weird...) and closed my eyes.

"Anyways, I can't wait for what other adventures are in store…and I'm getting a little sleepy. Let's give it our all tomorrow. OK, Nera? Sleep tight..." Volt trailed off a little at the end as he yawned and closed his eyes. I could feel small flickers in his energy, but nothing too 'noisy.'

I waited until he was asleep before pulling out a strange object from my "personal space" (like a pocket dimension for a single item). _An Expedition Gadget_. The words echoed in my head. I placed the Exploration badge over the screen and a blue light scanned the badge before blinking to a loading screen. After a few seconds, the gadget finished whatever it was doing and several icons appeared on it. Curious, I clicked on the "map" icon and a map of the continent appeared. I saw a small red dot blinking indicating where I was and another orange one elsewhere.

"Huh, wonder what that is," I thought as I tapped it. The screen zoomed in on the orange dot and a text at the bottom of the screen red "Grovyle. Location: Treeshroud Forest."

"Who's Grovyle? Do I know this Pokémon... the name feels familiar..." I shrugged and decided to go back to the Menu screen. I clicked on another icon, this time it was one with a notepad. I saw some writing (human script) that read the words _**"Everyone's hopes and dreams... we will Change the Future ~**_ _ **Nera."**_ How confusing.

"I should try to see if I can get in contact with this Grovyle."I thought. For now, I would record my adventures here. And so, I bean to write:

 _Dear Diary,_

 _I don't know who I am, or why I'm here exactly, but I do feel that it is important. I was sent here for a reason, but I don't remember what I am supposed to do. Fortunately, I have a lead: Grovyle. I will have to see if I can get in contact with Grovyle and hopefully, he will remember._

 _I'm currently apprenticing at an Exploration Guild, and I'm still not sure exactly what we'll be doing here… b_ _ut it is fun to be friends with Volt! Besides, for now I should focus on the Guild's work! Maybe it will be fun. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to being human… but that might not be too bad. Either way, I'm tired too…_

 _Good night,_

 _~Nera_

* * *

The following Morning:

"HEY... HEY! HEY THERE! RISE AND SHINE!" A loud voice shouted. I heard Volt groan and mutter something inaudible. Not a morning person I guess. I woke up early, but went back to sleep seeing as how most of the other Pokémon were still asleep last he time except for Wigglytuff. I shook my head and got up. It felt like the best sleep I had ever had in a while. I glanced towards the entrance of our newly assigned bedroom discreetly and saw a Loudred standing there. So that's who that obnoxiously loud voice came from yesterday.

"Why are you still ASLEEP?!" He shouted. "You're late for morning briefing so WAKE UP! Guildmaster Wigglytuff has got a BIG temper. If you make him lose it... Yowee! That would be one scary scene! *shiver* I've got goosebumps just thinking about it! So... Anyways, I'm NOT about to get in trouble because you Rookie's got up LATE! Get it in Gear!" He shouted before leaving. Ugh, I think my right ear is deaf now... Oww.

"Urk, my ears are still ringing... What did he say? Something about getting ready?" Volt mumbled.

"Yeah, we're late." It replied tiredly dragging myself off to the bed. Being a Pokémon wasn't so bad. At least I didn't have to deal with long waves of purple hair. I absently tapped my crystalline horns wondering if those would ever grow. I figured that it would be tricky if I had to deal with tall horns on my head... talk about off balance...

We rushed out to the main room as soon as Volt was up. All of the other apprentices were lined up with Chatot in the front.

"You're Late Rookies" Loudred said. Hush!" Chatot barked sounding quite irrate. Not a morning person either, huh.

"Your voice is ridiculously loud." Chatot continued. Loudred made an equally irritated harrumphing noise. Chatot looked back and forth at the group of assembled Pokémon.

"Everyone seems to be present... Very well. let us conduct our morning address," Chatot said sweeping his gaze over the group of apprentices. Turning towards the Guildmaster's doors he called out, "Guildmaster! The guild is in full attendance!" *Silence* Wigglytuff walked into the hall. Was it just me or did Wigglytuff's eyes look a little bit more glazed than usual?

"Thank you, Guildmaster! Please address the crew." Chatot said in a business like tone. *Silence* ... Zzzz... Zzzz... Snorfle... Zzzz I nearly face faulted. Whispers went up around the hall.

" psst...! Guildmaster Wigglytuff never ceases to amaze me!"

"... Yeah, you got that right!"

"Yep, looks like he's wide awake."

"Eek! His eyes are wide open! But he's fast asleep!"

"Thank you, sir! We all value your... Words of wisdom!" Chatot said in a rushed voice. Addressing us apprentices he said, " OK, Pokémon! Take our Guildmaster's words of wisdom to heart! Finally, let's not forget our morning Cheers! All together now-" everyone chimed in: " A one, a two,... A 1 - 2 - 3! One! Don't shirk work! Two! Run away and pay! Three! Smiles go for miles!" The cheer ended (I was glad that Volt and I decided to sneak up to the entrance to memorize the Guild's Code). Chatot flapped his wings and gave a send off speech basically saying 'do work'. The apprentices and explorer teams went on to do their duties. I felt kind of silly just standing there unsure of what we were supposed to be doing. Chatot remedied this calling us up to the level above the dorms. We were led over to a notice board to the left of the ladder.

"Since you're just beginners, we will have you start off with this assignment." Chatot said passing us a job posting on a scrap of washed out paper.

"You're aware not bad Pokémon are cropping up in great numbers, right?" Chatot asked.

"Yup. It's because the flow of time is getting messed up, wreaking havoc, right," Volt responded. Chatot nodded in affirmation of his response. I was a bit confused.

 _"The flow of time... Huh...?"_ I wondered.

Chatot proceeded to describe mystery dungeons to us and how there was an outbreak of them everywhere. Caves, forests, deserts, lakes, and even volcanoes. Apparently they tend to change every new time that you enter it. _Talk about strange. I do wonder about those stairs though... How do those move around? Diglett?_ I shook my head and took the paper to read it.

"Hello, my name is Spoink. an outlaw has run off with my most prized possession. my precious pearl! That pearl is life itself... To me! I just can't seem to settle down if that pearl isn't in its proper place atop my head! but I've heard my Pearl has been sighted! It's said to be on a rocky bluff. But this bluff is reported to be extremely unsafe. I could never go somewhere so frightening! So friendly readers, would you be so kind as to go to the bluff and get my pearl? I beg your help, exploration team members! From Spoink." I read out loud. Volt looked a bit miffed.

"Wait a second... We're only supposed to find a special item that someone dropped?" Volt exclaimed. I sweat dropped at his antics. We are only apprentices, after all.

"I would rather do something that's more of an adventure. I'd rather look for treasures or explore unknown places. Things like that!" He continued with a starry eyed look on his face. Chatot flapped his wings and called for Silence.

"It's important that you Rookies pay your dues! Now pay attention! I'll repeat the warnings again to make sure they stick! You'll be forced out of a dungeon and send back here if either of you faints. You lose all of your money, you could lose half of your items or more, so you had best be careful! Not to mention, it would be horrible for the Guild's reputation if you were to fail a simple "E" Rank job such as this." He said in a stern and commanding tone.

"Now, if you understood all that, I suggest you get on with the job!" He continued in a calmer voice. Volt sweat-dropped and nodded meekly.

* * *

Drenched Bluff:

The procedure was pretty similar to that of when we were in the Beach Cave. Anoriths, Lileeps, and Chinglings, and Shellos were lurking around the Dungeon's floors. We stuck with our elemental attacks opting to use ice and electric type moves to deter any offenders. I found a few Pokédollars ("Poké," for short). After reaching the seventh floor down, we spotted the pearl. Nodding to my partner, I raised my Explorer badge and thought about leaving the "dungeon," which shockingly enough worked. We were back at the crossroads sign near the water basin. We headed back up to the Guild and got in contact with Spoink. A few minutes later and Spoink was bouncing down the ladder of the Guild.

"Th-thank you! That pearl must be propped on my head, you see. I've missed it so much! I just couldn't settle down without it being up there! So I was just boinging and springing everywhere!" Spoink said. I could see bumps and scratches all over his head and his short little arms. Poor little guy!

"But thanks to you, that long nightmare is over! You have my sincerest thanks!" Spoink said as he handed me a Protein, a Calcium, and an Iron. We also received 2,000 Poké. Volt looked ecstatic and happily voiced his excitement.

"Oh, wow! 2,000 Poké! All this is for us?!" He exclaimed. Volt's eyes sparkled.

"But of course! that's nothing compared to my pearl's value! Thank you, again and farewell!" Spoink replied happily. He bounced up the ladder and left.

Meanwhile, Volt was still so happy about the 2,000 Poké and then, Chatot approached us congratulating our team for a mission well done.

"Well done, Team Spirit! Now hand that money over, if you please!" Chatot chirped. Volt looked aghast at the idea of such a thing and gave a loud "Huh?!" in shock. I gave Chatot our reward money and he divided it up into two portions; one of which was significantly smaller than the other one. And you can probably guess which one we got...

"Most of the money from jobs goes to the Guildmaster and the Guild, you see." Chatot explained while he was divvying up the shares. I guess it is kind of like tuition fees... I thought.

"...And your team 's share of the money comes out to this much...!" Chatot said as he handed me a small sack of money.

"Ehh?! We only get to keep 200 Poké?!" Volt shouted/asked sounding indignant. I heard him mutter quietly, "That's awful!" I agreed with that thought. It was like winning a lottery and finding out that there was a mistake and you didn't get the grand prize only receiving a consolation prize instead.

"That's the Guild's rule, so you'll simply have to accept it." Chatot said with a tone of finality. I heard Volt grumble quietly. For some reason, this made me almost want to laugh. I smirked slightly but hid my expression with my hand.

*Ching-a-ling* *ching-a-ling*

"Everyone! Thanks for waiting! Dinner is ready!" Chimecho called. A loud 'Yeah' resounded throughout the Guild as all of the Guild rushed about to get ready and washed up for dinner. I found dinner to be very delicious. There were all sorts of berries and experimented with some of the flavors. I found that I enjoyed an interesting mix of berries: Pamtre, Kasib, Chesto, Mago, Cornn, and Chilan berries. I noticed that Volt seemed to be poking around for his preferred berries which were: Charti, Wiki, Chesto, Liechi,and Persim berries.

After dinner, we all said our good-nights and went to our dorms to get rested up for the next day's work.

* * *

The full moon's soft glow filtered in through the window once more...

"Listen, Nera...," Volt started. I settled into my bed and turned towards my partner.

"Wasn't today hectic? So much happened!" he exclaimed softly. He had a sort of cheesy smile on his round face as he continued, "But I'm relieved that our first job was a success. It was really upsetting how Wigglytuff's Guild took most of the money away... but, that's just the cost of training, I guess."

"Nothing we can do about it," I agreed calmly prompting him to continue.

"But what made me really happy today, though, was getting thanked by Spoink!" Volt finished. There was a spark in his eye as he said this. I smiled.

"*Yawn*... I'm getting tired. Let's try our best again tomorrow. G'night, Nera," He said before quietly drifting off to sleep. The soft thrum of his plasma moving through the air was like listening to a fan spinning on a high speed.

I waited for a little while longer before pulling out my Expedition Gadget. I felt a bit bad about not telling Volt yet, but I felt that until I figured it out, I should keep it hidden. I turned it on again and pulled up the Map again. I located the orange dot again. It was still located at Treeshroud Forest. Guess he was doing something there, or was he waiting... for me...?

 **To Be Continued...**

 **Next Chapter: Chapter 3 The Scream: Drowzee is the Enemy?!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Scream

**Please Review!**

 **Disclamer: I don't own Pokémon, only the names that I have given my Pokémon and Partner!**

Talking

 _Thinking_

 _Flashback/ Visions_

 **Chapter 3 The Scream: Drowzee is the Criminal!?**

(Volt's POV)

"UP AND AT'EM! IT'S MORNING!" Loudred's voice cut through the silence.

"Ugh... Good morning, Nera..." I yawned sleepily. I glanced towards Nera and saw that she was already awake. She had her ears covered, but her eyes were open and held a look of mild irritation. Getting ready quickly, we headed out to the main hall.

Finishing up our cheers, Nera and I floated there for a second before Chatot approached us again telling us to follow him. Only this time, when we went up the ladder, we went to a board that was to the right instead of the left.

"Today, we'll have you do a job listed on this side." Chatot said pointing his wing at the Job Notice Board. I didn't really notice anything different at a first glance, so I spoke up.

"How is this different from the board on the other side?" I asked inquisitively. Nera was already looking closer and her eyes narrowed by just a fraction. Chatot seemed to notice this and nodded, his face was slightly more grim as he turned towards me.

"Take a closer look." Chatot ordered in a calm voice. I floated forward and saw that there were pictures of Pokémon on the pages.

"Oh, look, Nera! There are posters up here that show a variety of Pokémon!" I said enthusiastically. Nera just shook her head, her expression looking somewhat torn between wanting to correct my misconception and laughter. I continued not really understanding.

"Wow! They all look pretty cool! Are they famous explorers? Who are these Pokémon?" I asked Chatot who sighed.

"The Pokémon posted here... are outlaws." he said in a serious tone ignoring my shocked gasp and plowed on, "They're all shady characters wanted for committing crimes. So there are bounties on their heads. In other words: there is a cash reward if you capture one. On occasions, you may also receive an item or a special egg."

"There are so many aggressive Pokémon around these days that everyone's finding it hard to keep up with the problem. That's where Exploration and Rescue teams come in." Chatot finished. Nera nodded with a solemn expression on her face none too pleased about the state of things going on right now.

"Wait a second!" I protested. I thought we were just an exploration team, not a fill-in-Magnemite-squad!

"You're telling us to go out and catch these outlaws?! You can't be serious! That's just not possible!" I said in a strained quiet voice. Chatot looked at me and chuckled lightheartedly.

"Hee-hee-hee-heeee! Just joking!" he said. Nera and I both sweat-dropped at his antics. After a few seconds of laughing at my expense, Chatot became more serious once more.

"The bad Pokémon out there come in all shades of 'evil'! Some of those Pokémon are completely wicked, through and through... But there are also bad Pokémon who are merely petty thieves. So you've got evil to naughty... and everything in between! So I'm sure we can avoid giving you a job that involves capturing a super bad Pokémon... Hee-heee-heee!" Chatot laughed at the end.

"So look over these posters, then pick out a Pokémon that looks weak enough for you to bring to justice!" Chatot said. Nera sighed.

 _"I wonder what's up with her...?"_ I thought to myself. I decided to make mental note and ask her about it later.

"Umm... You say some are weak... But they're still bad Pokémon, aren't they? I'm a bit scared of dangerous Pokémon..." I said quietly.

"It's all a part of your training. You'll work through it, I'm sure." Chatot replied sternly. His expression softened slightly as he glanced from me to my partner.

"And besides," he added, "You're not alone in this training. You've got your partner and the rest of the Guild at your back. You simply need to have more confidence in yourself. I know that your partner agrees with what I am saying." Nera nodded firmly. I smiled and straightened myself out.

"But I suppose that you do need to be prepared to confront a tough opponent, so I'll have someone give you a tour of the facilities... Hey, Bidoof! Up here, if you please, Bidoof!" Chatot called down the ladder. The small beaver-like Pokémon climbed up the ladder and stood at attention in front of us. He was panting a bit...

"You called?" Bidoof asked cheerfully.

"Ah, yes, Bidoof! These are the new recruits that just joined us. Please take them with you and show them around the town. Bidoof saluted and beamed at us happily.

'Yes sirree! By golly, I'll do just that! Yup yup!" he said enthusiastically.

"Very well, then. I'll leave you all to it!" Chatot said as he headed back down the ladder.

"Aw, shucks. I'm overjoyed!" Bidoof said with moist eyes. Confused, I asked why.

"I'm glad to have member's junior to me! I'm almost overcome right now... I might just blubber with happiness! Before you all signed on, I was the most recent rookie... *sniffles*" he said before shaking his head.

"Well, I'd best show you around. Come with me, please..." Bidoof called.

* * *

(Nera POV)

"This is the main part of town for local Pokémon- Treasure Town!" Bidoof said.

"Oh, I can tell you about Treasure Town, too." Volt stated as he began pointing out the facilities: Duskull Bank, Electivire Link Shop, Kekleon Shop, Khangaskahn Storage, and Xatu's Appraisal shop for Boxes, and Chansey's Daycare for Eggs. There was also the Marowak Dojo which was closed down for renovation. Electivire, Chansey, and Xatu weren't in Town, so their shops were closed for the time being.

"And that should do it." Volt finished with a semi proud smile on his face. Bidoof nodded his approval and told us to get ready. So we decided to hit up with Kangaskahn and the Kekleon Brothers. Bidoof told us that he would be waiting at the Mission Board back at the Guild.

I suggested that we go to Kangaskahn's first so that we could sort through stuff that we didn't need. Kangaskahn was very nice in a motherly kind of way. I couldn't remember my own mother, after all.

Hello, dears! What can I help you with today?" Kangaskahn asked us sweetly.

"Hi, I would like to store some items today. How much can I store?" I asked.

"Depending on your Explorer Rank, you can store 36-72 items here. What is your ExploreRank, dearie?" She responded.

"Actually, I am at Ultra Rank, but my partner here is at Normal Rank. " I said. Kangaskahn looked at Volt and back at me and smiled.

"You seem pretty young to be taking on an apprentice. But, I suppose that you must be quite skilled to be an Ultra Rank." She said with an impressed look on her face.

"Ah... Actually, we are _both_ apprentices at Wigglytuff's Guild," I corrected. Kangaskahn looked embarrassed and blushed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear... I'm sure that you'll become great explorers even still!" Kangaskahn declared. We got onto business soon after. I decided that we should store some of the gummis that we didn't need as well as a few extra PP Maxes. We left three of our apples and one Stun Seed in storage as well. I felt that having an Escape Orb was good to hold onto just in case. We put the Def. Scarf in storage since Volt didn't really need it. He was good at evading after all.

After we said our goodbyes to Kangaskahn, we headed over to the Kekleon's Shop. Volt made some small talk with the purple Kekleon brother while I picked out some merchandise and prepared to pay. With the limited amount of money that we have, we need to be careful about what we spend it on. I chose to get a few Oran berries and another Escape Orb. I also got some more gummis that I wanted to put into storage. After paying for our merchandise, another pair of Pokémon approached.

"Misters Kekleon!" Azurill called out. The baby water-mouse Pokémon and his older brother, Marill, following him close behind. The Kekleon brothers smiled fondly and greeted the siblings cheerfully.

"Ah, little Azurill and Marill!" The green Kekleon greeted. "Welcome, my young friends!"

"Hello. May I buy an Apple?" Azurill asked him.

"Oh, most certainly!" Kekleon said as he handed them a bag with their purchase.

"Thank you, Misters Kekleon!" Marill said.

"No, thank you, my young friends! You are to be admired!" Kekleon said waving farewell to the two brothers. Turning back to us, the Kekleon brothers told us about the siblings. Apparently, their mother has fallen sick, so the two of them would come and do the shopping for her. I thought that was indeed very sweet and responsible of them. I hope that their mother gets better soon. No sooner had I thought that, the two Pokémon came running back.

"What's the hurry? What makes you return in such a rush?" Kekleon asked.

"There was an extra Apple! We didn't pay for this many." Marill explained. Kekleon shook his head.

"Ah, that, my young friends, is a gift from me and my brother. Please, share it amongst yourselves and enjoy." He said smiling kindly.

"Really!? Thank you very much!" The young siblings said bowing. Kekleon waved off the their thanks and responded with a few words of encouragement and support. On their way out, Azurill tripled and the Apple that he was holding slipped out of his grasp.

"Oof!" He exclaimed as he fell forward. I slowly picked up the Apple and gently handed it back to the little mouse-like Pokémon. I think he was a bit intimidated by me...

"W-we're sorry for bothering you. Thank you so much." He stuttered. The moment my hand brushed his, I felt very strange.

 _"Huh? What was that?"_ I wondered. I felt a bit dizzy for a second. _It happened again... What-...!_

 _"H-h-h... Help!" A voice cried out._ I blinked.

 _"What was that? I'm sure I heard a shout for help just now..."_ I glanced around and focused back on Azurill who was standing in front of me.

 _"Did that shout come from you?"_ I wondered. Azurill looked at me with a puzzled expression on his adorable face and asked me if anything was wrong. I shook my head slowly.

"Hey, Azurill! What's going on? We need to hurry home!" Marill called. Azurill quickly scurried over to his brother after thanking me. He looked over his little brother before nodding and heading off.

"Those little guys are cute," Volt commented with a smile. I continued to stare after them, not really hearing a word of what my partner had just said. He seemed to notice and called for my attention.

"What's the matter, Nera?" He asked eyeing me with a concerned look?

"Did you hear a shout for help just then?" I asked. Volt shook his head in a negative and looked to the Kekleon brothers.

"Can't say did." "No, nothing out of the ordinary," they replied.

"You must have just imagined it." Volt said with a shrug. I nodded to my partner, but in my head, I was doubtful. _I am sure that I didn't imagine it. And it definitely sounded like Azurill's voice!_

"Let's move it!" Volt said cheerfully breaking me out of my musings. We started to head back to the Guild when I noticed the two siblings talking to a Drowzee. I don't like to be judgmental, but that Drowzee does not seem like good news.

"What's going on?" Volt asked as we approached them.

"Some time ago, we lost an item that's pretty important to us... We've been looking all over... But we haven't found it yet!" Marill said sadly.

"But then Mr. Drowzee came along and says that he might have seen it somewhere! He even offered to help us look for it. We are so happy about this!" Marill finished with a hopeful expression on his face. Volt looked happy and congratulated them.

"Thank you, Mr. Drowzee!" Azurill chirped happily. Drowzee looked embarrassed and waved it off casually.

"Oh, please. I'd have to have a cold heart to ignore kids in need! I can't turn a blind eye! Let us be on our way to begin our search!" He said humbly. The two brothers nodded and the three of them headed off. Drowzee bumped my shoulder in passing. For a moment, I could have sworn that he was giving me a cold stare...

"Whoops! Excuse me." He said in a cool tone as he walked away. All of a sudden, I started to feel dizzy again.

 _"Ugh...Wh-what is this...?"_ I wondered. Volt was saying something, but I couldn't focus on what he was saying.

"It's happening again... Another dizzy spell...-" I trailed off as I blacked out again.

 _(Vision)_

 _"If you keep being difficult, it will mean trouble for you!" Drowzee growled. Azurill shivered and curled up into a ball._

 _"H-h-h... Help!" Azurill screamed._

 _(Vision End)_

"What was that!?" I gasped as I snapped out of the "dream".

"-d be nice if those little guys found their item soon." I heard Volt say. He noticed that I was off in my own little world again and tried to get my attention.

"Huh? What's the matter, Nera? You're looking awfully grim..." he said as I turned around to focus on my partner. I explained the strange dream and everything that it entailed. He looked doubtful when I finished.

"Well... It's not that I don't trust you, or anything... But, I just can't believe it! After all, Drowzee seemed to be a sincerely nice Pokémon, didn't he?" Volt said. I mentally sighed at his naive response.

"I watched the three of them go off earlier... They looked like they were having a good time, didn't they? You're probably just tired, Nera. Maybe that's why you have just had that bad daydream." Volt said. It was subtle, but it sounded to me that he was trying to convince himself more than me.

"Anyway, we're only apprentices. We can't just go do whatever we want. Sure, it's worrying, but... We have to concentrate on our guild work for now. Let's get ourselves ready to explore. Then we should find Bidoof. So, let's go, Nera!" Volt finished. I simply nodded not wanting to argue about my sanity at the moment. Only time would tell, after all, whether my visions would come true...

* * *

(Volt's POV)

As we made our way back to the Guild, I pondered our first real 'almost' argument. I realized something that was less prominent back when we first met: she was far more trusting back then. But, considering the fact that she had just woken up with no memories of her past life, I suppose I simply caught her off guard and she didn't think that I meant her any harm. But other Pokémon that she met after that... _wow_... she was very cautious.

 _"Perhaps it is her old personality poking through,"_ I thought. _Maybe she's regaining some memories! I know that it is selfish of me, but I... I don't know if I want her memory to come back... what if she leaves me...?... What if... she was a bad Pokémon? No! I won't think like that! I am not about to start doubting Nera! But... There is a lot that we don't know about her..._

We made our way down the ladder to the Mission Boards floor where Bidoof was waiting patiently. I felt a bit bad for making him wait so long, so I hurried over to him with Nera following right behind me. Bidoof looked up at us as we approached and cheerfully asked us if we were ready.

"Oh, yes sirree! Reckon you all are all ready! Then let's pick ourselves a lawbreaker for you to find." He said after receiving nods of confirmation from us.

"Well, you've got your pick of this sorry bunch of characters..." he continued as his eyes skimmed the notices.

"Let's see. Which should we pick?" I asked aloud excitedly. Bidoof interrupted me.

"*Ahem* As your mentor, how about I do the choosing?" he said. I blushed and apologized. Whoops! Looks like I jumped the ball again! Bidoof looked back at the board and was muttering something underneath his breath when an alarm sounded. Nera and I both jumped slightly.

"Stand clear! Updating listings!" a voice over the speakers called. I could see the ground shaking underneath me.

"What's that? What's going on?" I yelped.

"Oh, the data's just getting updated. The Outlaw Notice Board and Job Bulletin Board are set up on revolving panels. While the panel is flipped over... Dugtrio swaps out the old jobs with the new ones." Bidoof informed us. Apparently this is his job since he is good at tunneling (carefully).

"Update completed! Stand clear!" Dugtrio called. A few moments later, the Panel flipped over with new missions on it.

"Now that the list of outlaws has been refreshed, let's pick one!" Bidoof said. I didn't really hear him though. My eyes were focused on one name and one name only, located in the top left corner: Drowzee. _Drowzee... DROWZEE!_ I slowly pointed at his Notice paper. Nera had a blank look on her face except for the fact that her eyes were narrowed just a fraction. She nodded towards me calmly.

"Drowzee! H-he's a wanted criminal!" I half shouted/asked. Bidoof only looked at us with confusion written all over his face. He looked like he wanted to say something, but had no clue what to say.

"We have to get moving! Azurill will be in danger!" I exclaimed. Nera was already heading up the ladder. I raced after her. I caught up with her outside at the crossroad sign with Marill who was looking distraught.

'What's the matter, Marill? Where are Azurill and Drowzee?" I asked already dreading the answer. Marill jumped slightly at the volume of my voice.

"Y-yes... about them! After we left, we went looking for our lost item together... But I wound up all alone when Mr. Drowzee went somewhere with Azurill. I called and called, but they didn't come back! I got scared..." Marill said frantically.

"Which way did they go?" Nera asked. Her voice was calm and collected. I was wondering how she was able to remain so calm. I looked at her in admiration for a fleeting moment before suppressing the urge to slap myself. This isn't the time to be thinking about that!

"They went th-that way!" Marill said as he started running towards the foot of Mt. Bristle.

"Nera! You were saying that you saw them in a mountainous place, right? Then I get the feeling that they're up ahead here... Let's get going!" I said looking up at the large mountain path in front of us. We ran in.

* * *

Mt. Bristle

We made quick work through the Mystery Dungeon as Doduo and Starly were weak to both of our elemental attacks. Nera made quick work of the Geodudes and Nidoranas and Nidorinos. Spinarak were also easy to wipe out with their Poison-Bug dual typing: one quick shockwave and they were done. Machops were more difficult for us to handle independently, so we took them down through a joint effort as Nera would confuse them with Double Team or Confuse Ray, I used their confusion to zap'em. We probably made it to Mt. Bristle's Peak in record time (for a pair of Apprentices).

Mt. Bristle Peak

We arrived on the scene as Drowzee started threatening little Azurill who was terrified.

"If you won't do what I ask... there will be trouble for you." Drowzee warned starting to sound a bit impatient. Azurill shook his head with tears in his eyes and tried to back away. Drowzee only followed his every step, trying to corral him back towards the crevice.

"H-h-help!" Azurill screamed. I couldn't take it anymore and called out.

"Stop right there! We won't let you do that! You bully!" I said. Nera stood beside me, once again, in 'Mission mode,'- stone faced and glaring coldly. I could see a small cloud of cold air coming out from behind her hand that was in front of her face. An Ice Beam waiting to be fired. Drowzee suddenly looked nervous and started sweating a little. I smirked to myself taking pride in the fact that I startle him.

"H-how did you find this place?!" Drowzee asked trying to shift his position slightly. Nera noticed this and fired a warning shot at the ground near his feet causing him to jump slightly and warily glance at my partner. Nera still had a cloud of cold air surrounding her from the charge. She had a small spark of purple near her now: a Shadow Ball in charging.

"We're Team Spirit! An exploration team that no criminal can escape from!" I declared. Now Drowzee looked really nervous as he stammered and sputtered for a moment. I could see beads of sweat on his forehead, but then he did the strangest thing: he laughed. _What?_

"A-ha-ha-ha! You're just rookies!" he said with a smirk before glancing warily at my partner.

"Well... at least you are. Your partner probably scared every other Pokémon that she was partnered with! I mean, a Froslass?! They don't exactly have a good reputation...," he said. I gasped. He must have seen my Explorer Badge (which was still at Normal Rank while Nera's was at Rank)! That sneaking little thief! And just what did he mean about Froslass? I glanced at Nera who stiffened slightly losing control of her attack, choosing to release the power at a large boulder so as not to hurt anybody unnecessarily. *KA-BOOM!* I would have to ask her about that later... (her Rank being so high)

"You say you're an exploration team, but you're total rookies! Heh! That's right, I'm a wanted Pokémon with a bounty on my head. But can you two do the job? Can you confront this outlaw and bring him to 'justice'?" Drowzee questioned ruthlessly. Nera looked angry at the insult and it was pretty scary, but when she looked at me, her expression showed boundless confidence in me. It stirred something within me and I straightened myself looking forward with a determined look firmly planted on my face.

"Yes! We can and we will!" I said as I got ready for a fight. Nera faded out of view and reappeared next to Azurill startling the poor Pokémon. She muttered something to him and he calmed down. She swiftly led him around Drowzee who looked like he was going to intervene, but a piercing glare from her and a quick Spark from me stopped him.

"I am your opponent!" I declared boldly. Nera's eyes widened a fraction before nodding slightly as she continued to move Azurill away from the line of fire.

"I've been chased down by a number of exploration teams in my day... But never a sorrier-looking thing like you!" Drowzee said spitefully.

"This should be a laugh. Let's see if you can take me down. Show me what you've got!" he roared as he rushed me with a Zen Headbutt. I dodge it and fired off a quick Ominous Wind. He barely dodged, but the attack did what I was hoping for. I felt lighter and stronger than before. Gotta love those stat boosting moves! I fired of a volley of Shock Waves all of which hit there mark beautifully. I immediately moved away from my current position so that I wouldn't get hit when he counter attacked. Sure enough, a wave of pink Psychic energy fired at where I was previously hovering. I fired off another Ominous Wind before my stat boost wore off. I hear a yelp and a thud. When the dust settled, Drowzee lay there moaning with swirls in his eyes. Nera moved towards him and tossed a Stun Seed at his open mouth and he stiffened. Paralysis.

"That'll keep him down until the Magnemite and Officer Magnezone get here," she said simply. I flashed her a tired and grateful smile. The battle was quick, but intense leaving me to come down from my adrenaline rush.

"Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" I asked Azurill. He sniffled but shook his head smiling slightly. I couldn't help but think about what a trooper the kid was.

"I'm OK." He sniffed. I gave a sigh of relief and smiled warmly.

"That's good. Your big bro is waiting. Let's get you home." I replied to which Azurill smiled a bit more brightly and nodded eagerly. *Grm-grmbl*

"Ah..." Azurill laughed, pink cheeks turning red with embarrassment. Nera laughed silently and I chuckled. I pulled out an Apple and a Blue gummi and gave them to the little water mouse Pokémon. He finished the food quickly and thanked me.

* * *

(Nera's POV)

Going back down Mt. Bristle was a lot easier than going up, that's for sure. I know that neither of us Ghost types have feet, but it still takes energy to simply float, albeit, a small amount. Using my Explorer badge, I was able to warp us back to the base of the mountain where Marill was waiting. Magnezone was also standing (floating) by.

"ZZT! I am Magnezone, the Primary officer in this region. ZZZT!" He buzzed upon greeting us. He ordered two Magnemite to restrain Drowzee before the Stun Seed wore off.

"ZZZT! Thanks to you, we have been able to arrest a wanted outlaw! ZZZT! We owe you our thanks for your cooperation! ZZT!" He praised. A small fanfare of beeps and flashing lights... _How... nice?_

"ZZZT! We will send the reward to your guild. Thank you again! ZZZT!" He said before turning around to Drowzee who was bound with special cuffs that would keep him from teleporting away.

"ZZZT! Now come with us! ZZT!" Magnezone ordered. Drowzee looked downcast. I shook my head in disbelief. He really didn't seem that bad now... but he is still a criminal, so, oh well. Maybe he'll reform.

As the police left, Marill and Azurill were hugging each other. Azurill started crying both from the shock catching up to him and the relief of being with his older brother again. Marill was not much better. The two brothers thanked us profusely. We headed back to the Guild and found a letter in our mailbox. It read:

Dear Nera and Tetravolt of Team Esprit,

The Exploration Team Federation is proud to award you with an enlarged Treasure Bag! You can now carry more items than you could before!

Happy Exploring,

~ETF

I looked at Volt and shrugged. We both peered into our bag and didn't see anything different about it. I dipped my hand inside and gasped. It was deeper (how? No one knows...) than it was and had more pockets! Volt shrugged and we decided that our motto with these kinds of things would be: Just accept it and move on. We met Chatot at the Outlaw Notice Board where he congratulated us and proceeded to nick- I mean, _withdraw_... the funds for our training.

"Very good work you two! Your team is shaping up rather nicely!" he praised.

"Yeah, yeah... just take our hard earned money already..." I mentally grumbled. We receive 300 Poké... Only 300 Poké out of 3,000 Poké. *Sigh* Oh well, time to just accept it and move on... Damn it.

"What!? This is all we get?!" Volt practically yelled. "After all that hard work..." I heard him mutter under his breath.

"But of course! It's all part of the training! And we expect just as much effort tomorrow! HEE-Hee!" Chatot chirped before heading downstairs. I looked at my partner and shrugged. Volt sighed and smiled wryly.

"I'd be happier if our share was a bit bigger... but that's alright. We managed to rescue Azurill. And it's all thanks to you, Nera!" Volt said beaming at me happily. I shook my head and corrected my partner.

"I agree with the whole pay thing... but I only brought up the warning flags. It was your decision to either ignore them or head them. And it was you who fought Drowzee and beat him. I just made sure that Azurill was out of harm's way. You were a hero today, too!" I said. I moved my hand away from my mouth allowing Volt to see my proud smile. He glowed a darker orange and his plasma streamers grew brighter at my praise. His blush was cute. Still... those dreams... I would have to write about them in my journal tonight. I was brought out of my thoughts by a loud growl. *Grmble*

"Ah-ha-ha-ha... My stomach growled!" he said. I laughed softly. My stomach started to growl, too. *Grwl-mble* We both laughed as we headed downstairs to the Dining Hall. Chimecho's cooking was delicious as ever.

* * *

After getting washed up and ready for bed, we nestled in to our beds. It was raining again. Lightning danced across the sky as the wind howled.

"Wow, that's some intense lightning!" Volt exclaimed. I smirked in amusement.

"You're an electric type, I thought you'd be into this sort of stuff," I teased with a laugh. Volt pouted which looked hilarious and only made me laugh more. He pouted for a bit more before breaking out into his own fit of giggles.

"Hey! You know the night before we met, Nera? (I nodded for him to continue) It was stormy that night, too. Do you remember anything about being zonked out on the beach? Can you remember anything at all?" Volt questioned. I sighed. I did remember one thing: Grovyle's voice (at least, I think it was Grovyle). The voice was begging me to not let go, but I was too weak and I couldn't hold on any longer. But I didn't think that that was necessary to be spoken about.

"Nope. I can't remember a thing." I sighed. I hated lying, but I just had this feeling that I shouldn't mention that detail. Volt's dejected look was put off by the almost relieved tone in his voice... odd.

"I guess it won't be that easy. But that's alright. Just try remembering a little at a time." he said. He glanced out the window again before suggesting that we turn in. I couldn't agree more except for one small thing.

"...Listen, Nera. I've been thinking it over since it happened. That strange vision you had, Nera... Maybe it has something to do with you personally, Nera." Volt started. I gave a thoughtful 'hm' in acknowledgement.

"That's just the feeling I get. I sure don't know any other Froslass who have visions of the future. And I've never heard of a human turning into a Pokémon either. That's why I think that the two are connected." He said softly. I had to agree with him on that.

"Oh, and I also was wondering how your badge recognized you to be of such a high rank..." I shrugged indifferently as if to say "I don't know".

"Speaking of which, what did Drowzee mean... y'know, about you being a Froslass and all?" Volt asked curiously. I sighed and muttered something unkind about Drowzee into my straw bed.

"... Froslass are... generally not considered to be one of the most... warmhearted Pokémon." I stated flatly. Volt glanced at me curiously. I sighed. I was kind of hoping that this topic wouldn't come up.

"There's a story. A long time ago, there was a Froslass that lived deep in the heart of a snowy mountainous region. According to legend, that Froslass was said to be terrifying. Most Pokémon that went into her territory were said to never see the light of day again. Those that did manage to escape say that She keeps them... the poor Pokémon that were caught trespassing on her mountain. It is said that she freezes them and keeps them on display so that she can always see the faces of those that she has caught." I said in a monotonous voice. Volt gasped.

"That's horrible!" he exclaimed. I nodded glumly.

"You're nothing like that though! So people shouldn't judge you for simply looking like someone else!" he declared. I smiled at his childish naivety. It was refreshing and reassuring. I hadn't noticed it until recently, but I was a bit more cautious and more cold towards others. I needed Volt. He kept me from becoming to distant.

"I have no way of knowing how you were when you were human, but I think that you must have been a good person. After all, it was your vision that helped us reach Azurill and capture that bad Pokémon." Volt said.

"As you have heard, Time is getting messed up, bit by bit, all over the world. No one seems to know why. But everyone believes that the Time Gears are somehow involved." he said. _Time Gears?! What...?_

"They say that the Time Gears are hidden in secret places around the world. Like in a forest... or a lake in an underground cavern... I've even heard that there is a hidden altar inside a volcano. At the center of such places is what is known as a Time Gear. These Gears serve a very important function: Each one protects time and keeps time flowing properly in its region." Volt explained.

"But... What happens if a region loses it's Time Gear?" I asked concern lacing my voice.

"I don't really know the answer to that question. But my guess is that the flow of time in that region will probably stop too. That's why everyone makes sure to never disturb the Time Gears. Everyone has been long certain that some kind of disaster would strike. So everyone stays away from the Time Gears and doesn't tamper with them. Even the most hardened criminals know not to mess with them." Volt said.

"I see." I said simply.

"Yeah... *Yawn* Well, I'm bushed. Good night, Nera," Volt said as he closed his eyes. He was emitting soft snores soon after.

I waited a little while longer to check that he was good and fast asleep. I pulled out my Gadget as usual and pulled up the Notepad and started looking through the older entries and found one that mentioned the Time Gears. What I read that night shocked me to the core. I looked out the window and stared out into the stormy sky.

"So that's what you are doing there... Grovyle." I murmured.

* * *

Treeshroud Forest:

tap-a-tap-a-tap... *Huff* *Huff* *Huff*

A lone figure sprinted down the muddy path. It's goal was just up ahead. The bright blue glow that was the only light in this part of the wood except for the occasional flashes of lightning.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Could it be...? Yes, it is! I've finally found it!" lightning flashed revealing Pokémon that was mostly green with highlights of red. A red stripe around his middle and three leaf-like extensions at his wrists. A long single leaf extended from his forehead curved backwards to flowbehind him.

"A Time Gear!... But... this is only the first of many..." He sighed as he snatched the Time Gear. He clutched it tightly as he turned around and ran. He could see out of the corner of his eye that as the light around the altar faded, time was already beginning to slow to a halt. He would have to move quickly or else he would be stuck in time as well.

Once out of the danger zone, he grimly assessed the damage. Grey light covered the forest. The rain did not continue to fall. Silence reigned over that region now. The forest would never have another evening... _I must hurry!_

 **To Be Continued...**

 **Next Chapter: 4 The Waterfall & Enter Team Skull?!**


	4. Chapter 4: Waterfall & Enter Team Skull

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon! I only own the names of my character and Partner Pokémon.**

 **xxx**

Talking

 _Thinking_

 _Flashback/ Visions_

 **Exploration Gadget Calls**

 **xxx**

 **Chapter 4: Waterfall & Enter Team Skull?!**

(Nera POV):

 _Dear Journal,_

 _"Today, I had these strange dreams... The first one was when I helped Azurill at the Kekleon stand. After touching the Apple and then Azurill, I had a vision of some sort... it sounded like a... scream... The second one I had was after I bumped into the criminal Drowzee. That time, I saw the events that led up to Azurill's cry for help. Both of those events were in the future at the time. Reading some of the older entries, I have figured out that this ability is called the_ ** _Dimensional_ _Scream_** _, but according to those notes, I've only been able to "see" things that were related to the Time Gears. Why was I able to see something like that? Ah, well..._

 _From the notes already written in this journal, a Pokémon called Dialga is affected by the changes in time and vice versa. I'm feeling pretty sleepy now, so I guess I'll end this here._

 _Goodnight,_

 _~Nera_

* * *

Next Morning:

"UP AND AT'EM! IT'S MORNING!" Loudred's voice cut through the silence.

"Mmrghf..." Volt mumbled into his bed grouchily. I sighed as well. I was already up and was reading some of the notes in the back of my journal. It appeared to be in code, so I would spend some of my mornings trying to decode some of the notes. I had discovered that "Dialga," was a common name in the entries and that the initials at the end of each entry were either mine, or another person's. I could always tell when Loudred was coming as the floor would shake a bit (no subtlety whatsoever) and quickly store my journal.

I stretched a bit and poked Volt since it seemed that he was trying to go back to sleep. He groaned again, but actually got up this time. We hurried up to get washed up and ready for the day. After morning briefing, Loudred called us over. I looked at Chatot with a quizzical look on my face to which he shrugged and nodded his head in a "go on," kind of fashion. I looked over at my partner and we both nodded before floating over to the loud mouthed Pokémon.

After explaining the situation to us, I was a good bit confused. Like, how the heck am I supposed to be able to identify whichever Pokémon stepped onto the ID Grate?! Of course, we climbed down into the tunnel (which was made by Diglett for use of Diglett, therefore, very awkward for any Pokémon that is not a Diglett) and made our way to our positions. I was the Identifier while Volt was the Checker. There was a guide on the wall, so that was how I was to check the footprints... Over 600 different footprints to guess from... _Yay_.

It was a slow day, so it was super boring. I was happy when Loudred said that there were no more visitors. Chatot reviewed our work. We did surprisingly well and only had two "double checks" but no final incorrect identifications. We got a Job Seed, a Ginseng, a Life Seed, and 500 Poké. I was happy that we at least got paid even though we technically missed out on a day of work in the field. Ah, well. Details.

Dinner was called and all the Guild members rushed to their seats. Chimecho had made some new dishes and they were delicious. I especially like the roasted Chesto and Chilan berry and Leppa berry salad. It was spicy, but sweet at the same time. A nice refreshing glass of Oran berry juice waved it all down nicely. I saw Volt try the salad but tried to wash it down with Sitrus juice instead. I watched as his face turned to a red orange color before throwing some Oran berry juice back and his face returned to normal coloring. I couldn't hide my giggles and after seeing him glare at me with pain filled tears in his eyes and burst out laughing. Volt eventually joined in and we enjoyed the rest of dinner with Cheri Berry sundaes.

* * *

A Few Days Later:

We have been put back to doing jobs from the two mission Bulletins. I went for some of the highest ranked jobs (that Volt and I could handle together), tripling up on the number of missions we took per dungeon so as to increase the amount we got paid and be more efficient. It also would be helpful in raising Volt's "level" in the long run as well as increasing our overall Explorer Rank. I kept an ear out for any mention of time related news as well.

I left the missions that had "requirements" because I felt that was ridiculous that there were such requirements.

"Why should it matter who is on the team to rescue someone or retrieve something! Sheesh!" I explained to Volt when he asked me about why I left certain jobs. He sweat-dropped at that, but seemed to agree with my reasoning. Before we left for another day of missions at Mt. Bristle, we noted that there were two blue Pokémon with flat grey tails examining a rock.

"Yes! This is the place... Where hopes and dreams will come true..." the small blue one (a Wynaut) said excitedly.

"That's right!" the taller one said giving a loose salute.

 _Ookay then... moving on..._ Volt and I went towards the beach when a Krabby came scurrying up to us.

"Ahoy! Are you headed to the beach?" he called as he waved a claw in greeting.

"Well... Would you keep an eye out for something, if you could? Recently... There have been Bottles washing up on the beach. It looks as though there's something inside those bottles. If that sounds interesting, you might want to look for bottles on the beach." The Krabby said as he scurried off.

"Bottles washing up on the beach... Bottles with something in them... I'm interested!" Volt said with an excited look on his face.

"It sounds like they're only washing up every now and then... Whenever we head to the beach, we can look for a bottle!" I agreed.

We reached Bronze Rank that day! (Well, Volt did)

* * *

Time skip (a week later)- Morning Address:

"Er, ahem. I have a very important announcement to make: In Treeshroud Forest... Time has apparently stopped..." Chatot said in a somber tone. Cries of outrage and fear echoed through the early morning.

"Huh?!" Diglett gasped in shock.

"Eek! What did you say?!" Sunflora screamed.

"You're saying time stopped?! Hey, hey, hey!" Corphish exclaimed. He snapped his claws agitatedly.

"Yes, that is correct... Time has come to a standstill in Treeshroud Forest. The wind has stopped... The clouds are motionless... Dewdrops on leaves won't fall... They just hang there, suspended. In Treeshroud Forest, time itself has truly stopped." Chatot said once the Guild had quieted down.

 _"What happened to the Pokémon that were living in the forest?!"_ I wondered. _Frozen in time along with the rest of the place, or were they able to leave... To escape... Probably not. They wouldn't have had enough time to flee if it stopped suddenly. Grovyle..._ I adopted a look of shock on my face. It would look suspicious if I looked at ease with all this (not that the idea of Pokémon being trapped in time wasn't grim).

"T-time has stopped?!" Dugtrio asked repeating what Corphish had said earlier, worry evident in their eyes.

"But... How could something this awful happen?" Sunflora asked no one in particular. Suddenly, her squinted eyes widened as though she had come to some conclusion.

"It's _unthinkable_!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. Chatot nodded grimly.

"Yes, the unthinkable has happened. Treeshroud Forest's Time Gear was... _Stolen_!" Chatot said. Everyone is in an uproar over this revelation. _No One touches the Time Gears... Or so you all thought. Up until now, that fact held true._

"I'd heard it was possible! But now it's really happened." Chimecho murmured.

"I don't get it, though! Why would ANYONE take a Time Gear?!" Loudred shouted angrily. Chatot fluttered his wings and called for silence. The mutterings died off rather quickly.

"Officer Magnezone has already started an investigation. It's hard to believe that anyone would dare steal a Time Gear. But if one of the Gears can be stolen, the others may also be in danger. Magnezone has asked to be notified immediately if we notice any suspicious characters. So keep that in mind and let us know if you hear or notice anything. That is all. All right, everyone! Here's to another busy day of work!" Chatot said. With that final cheer, the rest of the Guild dispersed. Chatot called us over.

"Come here, you two!," Chatot's voice brought me out of my musings. Volt and I floated in front of Chatot.

"You've become quite good at your work. I'm impressed with your capture of Drowzee. That was very admirable." Chatot praised. Volt smiled happily and I nodded my head in thanks for the praise.

"So, today you two will finally be assigned a mission worthy of a proper Exploration team." Chatot declared. Volt cheered and I pulled out our Wonder Map. Chatot pointed out the area that we would be exploring and explained the details of our objectives.

"We've received intelligence that the waterfall may conceal a secret. We want you two to go and see if there really is anything there and if so, scout it out. Now then, any questions?" Chatot said. Volt shook his head and I gave a short nod. Chatot glanced us over once more before telling us to go stock up on whatever supplies that we feel would be necessary for the mission. Volt started shivering all of a sudden and Chatot looked at him concerned.

"Are you all right?" Chatot asked.

"Yes, I'm OK. I'm shivering with Anticipation and I'm super excited at the same time!" Volt said lifting his head proudly with a somewhat confident smile on his face. I gave an encouraging smile towards Volt.

When we reached the first floor down, Chimecho called us over. He explained some things about Pokémon Recruitment. He rang a "Friendship Bell" and told us that Pokémon that we defeat in a Mystery Dungeon may come to respect us and request to join our team! That sounded pretty interesting, but I kind of liked our team being a duo... Still, it was interesting. After chatting for a bit longer, we headed off to Treasure Town to get set for our trip. At the crossroad, there was a sign with a swirl on it next to a staircase that went down.

 _"Spinda's Café! A Shop of Hopes and Dreams, Opening Soon! Win Big!"_ the sign read. We agreed on visiting the shop when it would open.

* * *

A Few Hours Later:

"So this is the waterfall that supposedly has a secret..." Volt said. The water was roaring down loudly. Volt tried to get closer, but was thrown back rather violently by a large spray of water.

"Yow! That water is coming down hard! Try getting close to the waterfall, Nera." Volt said upon recovering slightly. He seemed to be a bit dizzy, because I don't think he fully understood what had just happened.

 _"Heck no! I'd be thrown back, too!"_ I thought. I decided to try to touch the waterfall anyways. _Maybe it isn't that deep... Yeah right..._ I got tossed back just as easily and decided to lay there for a moment contemplating, what exactly was going through my mind when I did that.

"Urgh.." I thought. I suddenly felt a strange sensation, one that I was becoming more familiar with. A Scream was coming...

 _Dimensional Scream:_

 _A lone Pokémon ran straight at the waterfall. It tumbled to its feet as it rolled forward. A small Cavern entrance was seen. The Pokémon shook its head and walked into the cave._

 _Scream End_

I gasped as the vision ended. Blinking a couple of white spots out of my sight, I quickly gave Volt a rundown of what I had seen (or foreseen) all the while, I tried to place the figure of the Pokémon in my Vision. It seemed so familiar, but it was too dark to see who it was exactly. Volt seemed a bit sceptical of my vision again, but decided that since we didn't have any other options, we might as well go for it.

"Alright... I believe in you, Nera! Let's go for it! On the count of three... One... Two... THREE!" Volt said as we leaped forward into the waterfall. The "cold" water splashed against me as I barreled through the waterfall. I let out a puff of cold air making a sort of makeshift slope for me to slide on and slid ungracefully on my back and I felt like I had been hit by Steamroller. At least I made it in one piece. I glanced over at Volt who had swirly eyes. I gave him a Persim Berry and that got him sorted out.

"Wh-what is this... It-it's a cave! You were right after all, Nera! Let's go explore!" Volt said as he looked around.

"I agree. Let us see what secrets this place holds!" I declared. We ran forward into the cave.

\- Line *Dungeons start looking the same after a while...*Break -

Waterfall Cave 8th Floor:

"Wow! Look at all these gems sparkling! Whoa, look over there! That gem is gigantic!" Volt exclaimed as we entered a crystal filled cavern hidden deep within the Cave. A huge red gem sat on an altar of sorts comprised of smaller light blue gems. The water surrounded the small dry areas that we hovered over.

"Oh, wow... I've never seen a gem that huge before! This is an incredible treasure! Everyone will be amazed if we take this back." Volt said. He started tugging on the gem.

"Hurgh... Aww... It won't budge! Nera, can you come over and try?" Volt asked. I shrugged. I grabbed hold of the gem and pulled. It was stuck fast and was not moving an inch.

"Sigh... But we can't just give up. If we try hard enough, we'll probably get some kind of result! I'm going to give it another go, Nera!" Volt said as he started trying to pull the gem in different directions with no luck...

"It's not budging...-" I started to say. I suddenly felt a dizzy spell coming on... another Scream...

 _Scream:_

 _The Pokémon ran into the crystal alcove and pushed on the gigantic gem. A huge rush of water swept through the area taking the Pokémon with it._

 _Scream End_

"That was...!" I thought. Volt's voice broke through my thoughts.

"It's no good. I can't pull it out..." Volt sighed. He leaned up against the gem.

"Wait! Don't-!" I started. The cave started to rumble loudly causing Volt to jump.

"Wh-wha?! What's happening?!" he exclaimed glancing around wildly. I looked to my right and saw a huge tidal wave closing in fast. Volt finally looked in my direction and saw what I was staring at and his eyes widened in shock.

"Waaahhh!" We screamed as the water swept us up... and up!

We flew out of a geyser! Gravity took hold of us and we fell back down into another body of water.

"Huh? What...? Where are we?" Volt asked. The water was warm (hot for me since I am part ice type).

"Hi, are you two OK? You plopped down from nowhere! It gave everyone here quite a fright!" a small bear cub with a crescent moon on his forehead said to us (a Teddiursa).

"This is the Hot Spring." Teddiursa added after a moment.

"H-hot Spring?" Volt repeated.

"Indeed! This is the Hot Spring. The Hot Spring's warm water works wonders on tired muscles and creaky joints. Many Pokémon visit here. Tell me, youngster, have you a map?" an elderly voice up on the rocks called down to us. An old Torkoal had moved down closer to the water, so I floated out of the water so that I was just hovering above the spring and pulled out the Wonder Map. He pointed out the location of the Hot Spring. Volt glanced at where Elder Torkoal was pointing and gasped.

"The waterfall is here... I see... Check this out! The water carried us all the way over here!" Volt said as he pointed out the distance between the two locations.

"My goodness! It was the water that carried you all this way? What a long journey that must have been! Let the Hot Spring wash away your fatigue before you make your way home." Torkoal said kindly. I dipped my head in a polite bow but chose to sit away from the water a bit.

"Good idea. I'll do that! Thanks, everyone!" Volt said as he relaxed into the hot water. After a few hours of soaking, I suggested that we head back.

* * *

Back at the Guild, we made our report to Chatot who praised us for a job well done. Even though we weren't able to bring anything home, Chatot assured us that it was fine. I was still thinking about the visions that I had at the waterfall. I was almost certain that the Pokémon was Wigglytuff himself! But was this vision of the Future or the Past?

* * *

"We went through all of that for nothing... But, it was still incredibly fun, right? It's too bad that we weren't able to bring that gem back with us... But it was our first exploration!" Volt said. I nodded in agreement. I was also disappointed that we weren't able to bring back any big treasures. I did snag a few small Crystals though. I fished a small yellow one out of my bag and and hid it under a layer of my bedding. I would see if I could fashion it into something for my friend. Volt sighed contentedly and said goodnight. I decided that I would start working on the crystal tomorrow.

Chatot dropped by and told us the Guildmaster wanted to see us immediately.

"Guildmaster, I've brought you Team Spirit... Guildmaster...?" Chatot said announcing us to Wigglytuff.  
"Hiya! Your team went through a lot today! Yes, indeed! But don't worry! I'm keeping watch on your activities! The reason I've called you two here is to tell you that we're planning to mount a full expedition soon!" Wigglytuff said.

"An expedition?" Volt inquired.

"Yes, the Guild will go explore someplace far away. It will be much harder than exploring our nearby area. That's why we need to prepare for the big trip properly. The selection process is a tricky one." Chatot explained.

"Usually, we would never, ever consider rookie's to be expedition members, but you two are working very hard! That's why we are making a special exception this time! We've decided to include you in the list of candidates for the expedition!" Wigglytuff added cheerfully.

"R-really?" Volt gasped.

"Now, now. You haven't been chosen as members just yet. There is still time before we set out on the expedition. If you fail to do good work before then, you cannot expect to be selected." Chatot said.

"Of course!" Volt said with a look of determination on his face.

* * *

 _Dear Journal,_

 _Today, our Team Spirit went on its first official exploration. It was exhausting, but fun. The site of our exploration was at a waterfall. Behind the waterfall, there is a cave... In the deepest part of the cave, there is a gigantic gem... When Volt pushed on the gem, it triggered a trap of some kind and we were flushed off to the distant Hot Spring! It was kind of fun although I think I will avoid hot water for a while. Curse my ice typing... I get the feeling that I'd have liked hot springs as a human. Well... I'm tired now._

 _Goodnight,_  
 _~Nera_

After writing my most recent entry, I focused on trying to once again get in contact with Grovyle. I scrolled through the options on the Menu screen trying to find the familiar button that would allow me to contact any Teammate. I finally figured it out as I clicked on an icon that looked like a radio antenna. Selecting Grovyle's image, I waited. A soft buzzing sound went on for a few seconds and a small burst of static. I heard a low voice.

 **"Hello...?"** the voice asked sounding suspicious and hopeful at the same time. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest.

 **"It's me, Nera."** I said after a moment. I heard a sharp intake of breath.

 **"Nera?! Where are you? Are you alright? Are you hurt?"** he started to ramble. I coughed lightly to get his attention and he quieted.

 **"I'm fine... sort of. I'm at a place called Wigglytuff's Guild. I'm working here as a sort of apprentice. Grovyle... I've lost most of my memories... I- I didn't even remember you. I still don't remember you. Your voice sounds so familiar though, but I don't remember You!"** I said sounding distraught. I sniffled and rubbed my eyes.

 **"... Sorry..."** I said. There was silence for a moment.

 **"You're safe. That is what matters most," ** he said in a calming tone.

 **"I know you took the Time Gear from Treeshroud Forest,"** I said in a quiet tone.

 **"Yes. That is part of the reason that you and I came here."** He said in an even tone.

 **"Why?"** I asked.

 **"To save this world. We were sent here to gather the Time Gears and take them to Temporal Tower of this Timeline in order to prevent its collapse."** Grovyle explained.

 **"Where is Temporal Tower?"** I asked.

 **"... I don't know. Not in this Timeline, at least. The Tower was always visible in the Future Timeline, but it was always floating in the sky. I remember you reading about how the Tower is located in the Hidden Land, but that is all."** Grovyle said sounding tired.

 **"I see, so we are from the Future...? Hmm... perhaps, I could find some information on the Hidden Land here. Working for the Guild means that I hear of a lot of different places. I'll keep a listen for any information. Maybe Wigglytuff might have some information... I could make it seem as though I am merely interested in the idea of exploring an exotic place..."** I mused.

 **"Yes, that could work. Oh, by the way, why do you sound a bit funny; echo-y?" ** Grovyle asked.

 **"Ah, well... y'see. It's a really strange thing actually... "** I started.

 **"What happened?"** He asked sharply.

 **"Well... I woke up on the beach to a Rotom named Tetravolt who approached me asking if I was alright. I didn't have any translation gear on and I said that I was a human... turns out, I've been turned into a Froslass,"** I said. There was silence again. I turned down the volume of the Gadget.

 _ **"WHAAAT!?"**_ Grovyle shouted. I muffled the sound using my bed.

 **"Not so loud!"** I hissed.

 **"Tell me everything that you remember,"** Grovyle said recovering from his outburst. I started explaining what I knew. It was going to be a long night...

* * *

Following Morning: (Volt's POV)

"... So then, as I was explaining... There is a lake far to the east. Many aspects of that lake that remain shrouded in mystery, hidden in the fog. We hope to unravel these mysteries. This will be one of the biggest expeditions for the first time in quite a while." Chatot chirped. All of the apprentices looked excited about this piece of news.

"We will depart in a few days. Over this period of time, we will choose the most worthy apprentices. The chosen members will form the expedition party. Work hard everyone, and you might be selected for the expedition!" Chatot said.

"YEAH!" We all shouted. I was so excited remembering last night's conversation with Wigglytuff. I really hope that our team gets picked! The Guild members dispersed and went about their work chatting excitedly about the expedition. Our team also headed up the ladder to the mission room to look for jobs and then we saw _them_.

"Those Pokémon..." I mumbled. Nera just tilted her head waiting for something to happen. Zubat turned around and jumped slightly.

"Hey!" Zubat squeaked.

"You two?!" Koffing yelped.

"Now I remember you guys! Your those two crooks who stole my Relic Fragment! What are you doing here?!" I exclaimed.

"Whoa-ho-ho! I'll have you know that we're an exploration team too." Koffing responded smugly.

"Heh-heh-heh! Yeah, what's so funny about an exploration team checking out the Job Bulletin Board?" Zubat added.

"What?! _You're_ an exploration team?!" I gasped.

 _"There's just no way! These crooks_ can't _be an exploration Team!"_ I thought.

"That's right. Though the way we operate isn't always... 'by the book.' heh-heh," Koffing chuckled.

"But what a surprise! Why would you be here?" Koffing said.

"We are training to become an exploration team!" I said indignantly at the not so subtle jab.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha... You-you want to become a full fledged exploration team?! Hah-ha-ha-ha-ha... C'mere for a second, will you," Koffing asked as he and Zubat quickly corralled me away from Nera.

"Wh-what is it?" I asked a bit nervously.

"Now don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way now. You should just forget about being on an exploration team." Koffing said in a calm tone. I refrained from flinching and held myself up.

"Why would you say that?" I asked keeping my face as blank as possible (lessons with Nera on her "Poker Face" coming into play).

"Well, you're timid. You scare easy. A scaredy-'mon like you can't cut it on an exploration team! You'll only bring your team down as they will constantly be worrying about you." Zubat said in a serious tone. I blinked at that last statement. _It was true that I am a bit easy to scare... but I think that I've gotten better. But Nera... I didn't even think about how this might affect her! Would I really... am I really holding her back? It's true that she is of a much higher rank than me... But..._

"It-it's true that I'm timid... But that is why I am in training: So I can overcome my own shortcomings! Even now, I'm working hard to be picked for the Guild's expedition!" I said as I returned to my place at Nera's side.

"You tell 'em!" I heard Nera whisper softly. I beamed happily at her praise. I am really and truly grateful for Nera being there for me!

"Oh, an expedition, you say?" Koffing repeated with a wide grin.

"Heh-heh! Well, effort only gets you so far. You won't get picked for the expedition party if you don't have talent, right? Of course I'm right! It all comes down to talent... pure talent and a bit of ingenuity!" Zubat stated.

"Like you guys are ones to talk! Who was it who got their butts handed to them by this 'scaredy-mon'? Oh, wait! That was you two, wasn't it?" Nera said in an icy tone. She was glaring at the two poison types. They flinched slightly under her cold gaze.

"Whoa-ho-ho. W-well, we didn't have the Chief with us." Koffing said in his and Zubat's defense.

"Chief?" I echoed.

"Yeah, that's right. Our Team Skull has three members. The Chief is incredibly talented." Zubat stated proudly.

"To put it bluntly: He's brutally tough! If he were here right now, he'd snap you like a twig!" Zubat added.

"Speaking of the Chief, I can smell him coming now!" Koffing said. I glanced around. I turned around and saw a Skuntank lumbering down the ladder and stopped in front of Nera.

"Move! Out of the way!" he growled as he spat out Smog at Nera. She flinched slightly, but simply exhaled a cold gust of air blowing the cloud away from her. He glared at her before shoving her aside earning him an equally irritated glare and a soft hiss. But Nera didn't say anything, simply floating calmly not letting the jerk get the better of her. I cringed. Most of the stench had been blown away towards the windows, but it still smelled horribly! I heard grumbles from the other guild members who were in the room.

"Move it! Or else..." Skuntank snarled at me. I yelped and quickly floated over to where Nera was.

"Chief! You're the best!" Koffing and Zubat said. Skuntank rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Che. Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, you two, did you sniff out any jobs that'll bring in the cash?" he barked.

"The jobs posted here are only cheap tasks, but..." Koffing said trailing off.

"There's something else, Chief. It's got the potential to go big... *whisper, whisper*..." Zubat said as he started muttering softly so that we couldn't hear what he was saying. I saw Skuntank nodding his head at intervals and muttered something back.

"-That does sound tasty! Let's get out of here. We've got some plotting to do..." Skuntank ordered.

"Right, Chief!" Zubat and Koffing said. Skuntank left first and the other two members of Team Skull followed shortly, even making a scene as they left.

"What are you all staring at? This isn't some kind of public performance!" Koffing snapped. The guild members went back to chatting with each other (or at least, pretending to).

"Heh-heh-heh, see ya around, wimp!" Zubat hissed at me before fleeing quickly. I looked to my right to see Nera glaring Ice Spears at the spot he had vacated. I thought I heard her muttering some not very nice words about Zubat.

 _"Stupid little... arrogant... P****... -would make beautiful statue... *mumble, mumble*"_ Nera muttered so softly that I didn't catch all of what she was saying, but I definitely would not want to piss her off.

 _"Note to self: Do Not Anger Nera... It will end horribly and painfully..."_ I thought as I sweat dropped.

"Umm... Are you OK, Nera?" I asked tentatively. Her sharp gaze softened as she turned towards me and nodded. I gave a quick sigh of relief and smiled.

"You're not a wimp, you know," Nera said sternly as if answering my own thoughts. I raised my head sharply and gave her a small but grateful smile.

"Thanks." I said.

"Let's get to work," Nera suggested softly. I nodded eagerly.

"Yes! Let's!" I said.

* * *

On the way to Treasure Town, we saw the duo of Pokémon from a few days earlier (Wynaut and Wobbuffet).

"Oh! A customer, is it not? Good day, is it not? The new shop, Spinda's Café, is now open!" Wynaut said cheerfully.

"This wonderful shop is overflowing with hopes and dreams, is it not?" he continued. I was still puzzled by that phrase. I know that it was on the sign, but it sounded... vague... but interesting, nonetheless.

"Hopes and Dreams?" Nera said with a questioning note in her voice.

"That's right!" Wobbuffet said as she twirled around and did her loose salute.

"Hey! Why not come on in? Don't be shy!" Wynaut said as he directed us towards the staircase. I looked at Nera silently asking for her thoughts and she nodded and floated towards the stairs. The café was lit by huge orange lanturns with red and brown spiral designs. The floor was made up of light colored bamboo strips. There were several chairs and tables lined up close to the walls giving the place an open look. Several Pokémon were already there enjoying drinks or hanging out over by the counter in the far right corner. It looked like a gaming booth... odd.

"Wow! This place is pretty big!" I said. A pokemon with a spotted pattern and swirly eyes approached us.

"Hello and welcome to Spinda's Café! My name is Spinda and I am the owner of this place! This place is a café for explorers who enjoy finding new things every day and who are constantly challenging themselves." Spinda said.

"It is natural for explorers to want to relax with a refreshing drink after a day of exploring, so we are delighted to provide this service to explorers, and we trust it will bring them happiness. Today is our grand opening! Allow me to show you around the premises." Spinda said as he led us around the Café.

"This is the Juice Bar. I can make any edible item that you bring to me into a delicious drink. These drinks can even be useful in raising your abilities!" he explained. He then led us over to the counter on the other side of the room.

"This is the centerpiece of our place, the Recycle Shop! I'll bet you have a bunch of items in storage that you picked up in your travels and have little use for, am I right? Sometimes you have to throw out your extra items to make room... Doesn't that seem wasteful? There could be explorers in dungeons out there who are desperately in need of the very things you have either locked in storage or thrown away!" Spinda said dramatically. A spot light shone upon him as he said this. Nera and I sweat dropped at the dramatic performance.

"That's what we thought too... And so, we established this facility. You can bring your extra items here and trade them for items you want. How does that sound? One Pokémon's trash is another Pokémon's treasure, am I right?" I nodded in appreciation for the thoughtfulness of this service. Nera also had a look of approval in her eyes as she nodded as well.

"I thought it would be fun for explorers to gather and trade items with one another. You'll never have to throw out another item. You'll never have to say, "What a waste!" That's my goal. So please, if you've go a collection of items you don't need, please make use of our Recycle Shop. You can even get a bonus prize Ticket when recycling items. It's a lot of fun." Spinda said with a smile. I could see Nera hiding her smile behind her hand, but her eyes sparkled, betraying her interest. I grinned.

"Wow, what a cool shop!" I said.

"Thank you! It is my goal to have a café of hopes and dreams, where many explorers can gather. I hope to see you again soon here at Spinda's Café" Spinda said. He bowed and returned to the Juice Bar section of the Café.

A nice refreshing glass of Apple juice was a great way to start the day.

xxx

 **To Be Continued...**  
 **Next chapter- The Guild's Expedition!**

 **Please Review!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Guild's Expedition

**So this chapter was started like 2 months ago, but couldn't find the drive nor the time to finish it sooner. R &R Please! Reviews are great Motivation!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I only own the names of my** **Pokémon character and Partner.**

 **xxx**

Talking

 _Thinking_

 _Flashback/ Visions_

 **Chapter 5: The Guild's Expedition!**

Several days after the announcement was made, Team Spirit was sent on an errand run to Treasure Town. The Guild's stock of Perfect Apples had apparently disappeared without a trace. The Kekleon brothers did not have any plans to stock up on Perfect Apples anytime soon, and the rookie duo reported such back to Chatot. Chatot seemed to be panicking and sent them off to Apple Woods to go get some Perfect Apples or else. Little did they know that Team Skull was eavesdropping on their conversation/mission briefing and decided to plan some mischief.

Upon reaching the grove with the Perfect Apple Tree, Team Skull ambushed Nera and Volt blocking their way to the tree. Nera and Volt managed to defeat the trio of thieves and Volt used Thief to snatch some Perfect Apples from the tree while Nera made sure to keep the trio paralyzed with Thunder Wave. Team Spirit quickly made their way back to the guild where Chatot congratulated them on a job well done and some Poké. Team Skull did not show up at dinner that evening... Not that anybody really cared.

Another week of successful exploration missions and arrests, and Volt was about three-quarters of the way to Silver Rank and Team Spirit had gained a reputation of being a go-to team for semi-difficult explorations as well as being relentless in hunting down elusive outlaws. The time for picking the Guild members for the exploration of Fogbound Lake was coming ever closer. Chatot made an announcement stating that the chosen members would be revealed soon. He also explained that while Team Skull would not be official members of the Guild, they would be joining the expedition. There was a bit of muttering which subsided quickly out of fear of Wigglytuff's anger.

Two days later after the announcement, Chatatot read off the names of the Pokémon who would be in on the expedition: "Let's see... Loudred, Corphish, Bidoof?!... Chimecho and Sunflora... (what's this?... the Guildmaster scribbled something in at the bottom... the writing is so messy... *mutter* *mutter*...) Diglett, Dugtrio, Croagunk, and Nera and Volt!... Wait a minute, that's everybody!"

"Yup! I couldn't leave anybody behind 'cause that would be sad. Don't worry, we'll lock up properly! We'll make lots of noise and have fun!" Wigglytuff exclaimed. Chatot settled off in a corner and sulked for a moment before returning to the center and addressing the excited apprentices.

"Ahem... Well then, since that has been decided... Everyone should get ready and prepare for the expedition. The trip up to the site will be an adventure in and of itself, so today, you must stock up on necessities and get a good night's rest!" Chatot said.

"YEAH!" Everyone cheered hurrying off.

(Volt's POV):

I thought my heart would stop when Chatot stopped at the end of the first half of the list. Nera looked a bit tense as well.

"...Oh... and Nera and Volt-" Chatot said. I tuned him out after he said our names. I was shaking with joy and Nera relaxed her pose a bit. I refrained from jumping around, but still kept a big grin on my face look a lot like that of my cousin ("Mow" Room).

I practically dragged Nera towards Treasure Town in my excitement. The Kekleon brothers congratulated us and wished us luck in finding treasures. Kangaskahn looked happy for us and a bit worried.

"My, you're both so young to be going on such a big adventure. I wish you both good luck and safe travels!" Kangaskahn said. We waved goodbye to the Kekleon brothers as we left and made a quick stop at the new Spinda Café. We enjoyed some berry juice and a go at the lottery and Prize corner. We got a Trawl Orb and an Escape Orb. Finally, we headed back to the Guild and got ready for dinner.

Everyone was talking animatedly about the upcoming expedition and thinking about what they might find. It was an especially loud meal. Night time rolled around and I was ready to go to sleep.

"We better get to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long one and we are going to need all of our , Nera." I said.

"G'night," I heard her reply softly.

* * *

Somewhere?:

"There if is! Another TimeGear. This is only the second... Three more of them remain. I must have them..." Grovyle said to himself quietly.

 _"I hope Nera is making progress with her search for the Hidden Land..."_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Next Morning (Nera POV):

"Alright then, as you all know, the guild is traveling to a place called Fogbound Lake, which is the target of treasure rumors. The destination is quite a distance away, so the we will travel in groups for greater mobility:

Sunflora, Diglett, Croagunk, and Loudred; Chimecho, Corphish, and Dugtrio; Wigglytuff and Chatot- ("Awww... Why do I have to go with Chatot... boring" Wigglytuff whined childishly)- Sir... please don't be difficult... ("... Meanie..." Wigglytuff continued to sulk); Team Skull will travel alone; you, your partner, and Bidoof make up the last group.

We will encamp at the foot of the highlands here (Chatot pointed out a spot on the map at the edge of a foggy forest). The expedition is now underway!" Chatot announced.

"Hooray!" Everyone cheered.

Some time later: Our group had settled on a route along the seacoast to reach the base camp.

"Wow! The sea is right up this way Nera! And just look at this cliff!" Volt exclaimed. Bidoof shuddered.

"Yup yup! I reckon this is looking more and more like a true expedition! The path ahead will get tricky, just what real explorers like to see!.. And this... this here is something well known to all us explorers... It's a Kangaskhan Rock." Bidoo added helpfully.

"Eh?" Volt asked.

"Yes sirree, you heard right. That there's a Kangaskhan Rock. A Kangaskhan Rock lets you stow and take out items, and is a good checkpoint to 's a real help to travelers." Bidoo answered.

"Gulp...! cI just want to say again that this here's my first expedition! I'm feeling rather nervous, by golly." Bidoof said.

"Ha ha ha. That goes for us too. We're all beginners at this. Let's just do our best.

 _"Tetravolt is acting more like a leader. I didn't really notice it earlier... It must be the excitement from exploring that's bringing it out... But Volt who was so timid before, is trying so much harder... Yes, Volt is getting stronger and more confident bit by bit...,"_ I thought to myself. I was proud of my friend and at the same time, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness...

"Huh... If you look closely here, there are two entrances. Which way do you think we should go, Nera, Bidoof?" Volt asked us.

"Now that's mighty vexing..." Bidoof said glancing in my direction. I guess it was up to me again.

"I think we should take the path that leads to the left. The one labeled on our Maps as Craggy Coast." I said.

"Alrighty then! Let's Do this!" Volt said as he led our team into the cave entrance.

"Whew... By golly, I reckon we're finally through." Bidoof proclaimed with a bit of sweat on his brow. I was happy to be out of the cave as well. I never told anyone this, but I am a bit claustrophobic.

"Yes, but we still have a long ways to go fro the base camp. Let's check the Wonder Map... Ok...-" Volt started checking the map. I spotted a Kangaskhan Rock up ahead.

"You figure out our best route of action and I'll go check on storage. We'll eat lunch while we discuss a plan." I said as I floated over to the rock to do some storage management. After Lunch, we went and took the path to Mt. Horn.

"Yes sirree, we finally made it! Howdy, folks!" Bidoof greeted cheerfully.

"Good, right on time. Go set your equipment down. Make haste!" Chatot ordered. Loudred's group came into the camp a few minutes later.

"Now that everyone's assembled, let's get on with our strategy briefing." Chatot called. Bidoof thanked us and hurried after Chatot. I was glancing around the area. It felt familiar for some reason... Like I had already been here...

"Hm? What's wrong, Nera?" Volt asked me. I shook my head.

"...It's nothing," I said as I floated towards the gathered Pokémon leaving behind a slightly bewildered Volt.

"Come on, come on! We haven't got all day!" Chatot called.

"Oh! Right, sorry!" Volt chirped as he floated over quickly.

"It appears everyone has arrived at our base camp safe and sound. We shall now proceed to the exploration of Fogbound Lake! As you can see, we are in a densely forested area. Fogbound Lake is supposedly concealed somewhere within this forest. Many exploration teams of all stripes have mounted many a challenge, but so far the lake has eluded discovery.

"Hey hey! So are we chasing a dream then, or is it really there?" Corphish asked impatiently.

"You'll wreck the dream saying things like that." Sunflora chastised.

"um... while we were traveling, I heard about a certain legend: Fogbound lake is home to a Pokémon named Uxie. The Pokémon is said to be exceedingly rare. Uxie is said to lock eyes with others and wipe their memories clean That is why, even if travelers were to happen upon Fogbound Lake... Uxie would wipe their memories clean... Thereby muzzling the travelers from revealing the existence of the lake. That is how Uxie protects the lake, or so it is rumored." Chimecho said. I stifled a gasp.

 _"What?! Wipe their memories clean?!"_ I thought. Volt glanced towards me with wide eyes but kept silent.

"The Guildmaster and I shall remain here to gather intelligence from our teams in the field. You are to go off in teams to explore this forest. Be aware that this forest is enshrouded in a deep fog. Once you enter it, visibility is severely restricted. Perhaps there is a way of lifting this fog. Therefore, your search is twofold: search for Fogbound Lake and find a way to lift the fog. If you accomplish either objective, return to the base camp and tell me or the Guildmaster. That is all. All right, everyone, let's give it our best as always!" Chatot concluded. Everyone cheered and scurried off. Volt an I nodded and we headed down the path as well. I must have gotten lost in thought though, because Volt was calling me. I shook my head, I need to focus.

"Huh? What is this? Hey, Nera! Come over here, I think I found something. It looks like some kind of stone. It's such a pretty red, kind of like a ruby!" Volt said. He reached down and picked it up.

"Wow! This stone feels warm... it feels like the heat is coming from inside the stone, weird. I doesn't seem to be lava. What could it be? It might be rare. I'll keep it." Volt said placing the stone into our bag.

* * *

Foggy Forest:

"Wow, I know they said that the fog would be dense, but I didn't think that it would be this bad..." Volt muttered. I sighed. I had a Mobile scarf on so the both of us could avoid trouble by sticking close to the walls. There weren't any ghost-type Pokémon in the forest, so that made it easier. We still had to peek our heads out of the walls every now and then to see if we could find the entrance to the next area. After a while, we found ourselves in an open area with water cascading downwards into springs. With the fog being as dense as it was, it appeared to us as though it were simply falling from the sky (which is a ridiculous notion).

"Where are we...? Is this the deepest part of the forest?" I heard Volt say.

"Hey! Hey, Hey!" a voice called out a little ways ahead.

"Oh, hey, Corphish!" Volt said. We went in the direction of Corphish's voice and met up with the lobster-like Pokémon.

"Hey, Hey! Did you two find any clues?" he asked. We both shook our heads 'no'.

"I've got nothing here, either. Don't let it get you down... Oh, but There is something here that's kind of interesting." Corphish said brightening up slightly.

"Interesting?" Volt echoed.

"Yeah! Come over here and see!" Corphish said as he scuttled forward leading us to a giant statue of a Pokémon. Groudon, I thought to myself then blinked in confusion. Where had I heard of that name...? And then it clicked: my Journal that I have, the name and description match the features of this tilted statue.

"Wha-what is this?!" Volt gasped in awe. Corphish shrugged.

"I don't know, but it seems to be a statue of a Pokémon." Corphish said. I floated towards the statue.

"Groudon. This statue Pokémon is of Groudon: Master of the Land." I said murmured staring at the statue. Volt looked at me in shock.

"How do you know of this Pokémon, Nera?" he asked. I blinked and shook my head.

"I-I read it somewhere... I don't remember," I lied. I felt a knot in my chest. I detest lies and here I am, withholding potentially valuable information from my partner. Volt looked at me with that impressed glimmer in his eyes and I struggled to not show any emotion. I guess being a ghost-ice type Pokémon has it's perks: keeping a calm mask to hide my emotions. Volt floated forwards and circled the statue until he gasped and called our attention.

"Oh? There is something inscribed here... It's in footprint runes. Let me read it..." Volt said. I looked over his "shoulder" and skimmed the readings. They were in the same format as my journal notes, my old journal notes. These might be able to help me decode more of it. I listened to Volt translate the runes and took out a scrap of paper and a piece of Charcoal. I roughly sketched the runes onto the page and wrote the translation below.

"*Ahem* **'Reignite the life that burned within Groudon... Then the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat... The path to the treasure shall be revealed.'** " Volt read. I took note of the pauses and where he pointed at each pause and made little notches at each point in my copy and translation.

"Treasure! Oh, Nera! This may be talking about the treasure of Fogbound Lake! So this means, the Secret to finding Fogbound Lake could be hidden right here!" Volt exclaimed excitedly. My mind was whirling away as I processed the information.

 _"'Reignite the life that burned within Groudon' hmm. That could mean that there is something necessary to 'activate' this statue of Groudon... 'the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat,' so that might mean that this statue must be some kind of mechanism that intensifies the heat to lift the fog and 'reveal' the path to whatever the treasure is... but something is missing... We need something to 'reignite'- to activate- the mechanism. There must be some sort of key..."_ I thought. I could vaguely make out the fact that Volt and Corphish were thinking along the same lines...

"Hmm. Oh, I know! Nera, touch this statue! Maybe you'll see something!" Volt suggested eagerly. My eyes widened slightly. _Why hadn't I thought about that earlier?!_

"Alright, then," I said as I touched the base of the statue near the runes. _Urgh! I hate this feeling_. I shuddered.

 _Dimensional Scream:_

 _"That's it!"_

 _"It's here!"_

 _"It's here!"_

 _Scream End_

 _"What was that? Who's voice was that?"_ I blinked. My vision started to blur again. _Another one?_

 _*Scream start*_

 _"I see!"_

 _"Place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart. That lifts the fog!"_

 _"Very well done! Good job, partner!"_

 _*Scream End*_

I focused on organizing my thoughts. Based off of what I had just seen, it was a vision of me and Grovyle. I started to analyze the words. Groudon's heart and the Drought Stone: Those were the most important things that I picked up on.

"Groudon's heart..." I said out loud as I circled the statue. _Aha! There!_ I found a small niche near where the heart would be on the statue. Now I just need the... Drought... Stone...! I whipped around and motioned for Volt to get over here.

"That stone you found earlier! That is the key! I am almost positive!" I stated. Volt took out the Red Stone and it seemed to pulse slightly, like a heartbeat. He blinked in realization and nodded. He floated up and placed the stone in the niche and moved backwards. It was just in time too, as the gem seemed to pulse more and a wave of heat blew us backwards a bit. The eyes and the stone started to glow a fierce red and a beam of red light launched itself up into the air piercing the fog. The sunlight intensified greatly and the fog was evaporated. Steam quickly covered the ground now and I could see that the waterfalls and the pools of water also let off some heat. Glancing upwards, I saw a sight that took my breath away. It was beautiful. The water was falling from atop a pillar like rock formation that was previously obscured by the fog.

"We were just walking in circles! It's no wonder we couldn't find it!" Volt exclaimed.

"Hey, hey! So you're saying that Fogbound Lake is up there?!" Corphish said.

"Hey, hey! This is no time for gawking! I'll let everyone in the guild know! You two go on ahead!" Corphish said as he hurried back to the base camp.

"Alright. Onward to Fogbound Lake!" Volt said cheerfully.

"Hold it!" barked a gruff voice. Team Skull walked out in front of us. I hissed slightly and Volt appeared to be a bit startled, but I paid no attention to his worried glances at both me and the group of poison type Pokémon.

"What do you want?" I growled. I was in no mood to deal with these crooks. It was hot and I get more irritable when I am in hot places. Skuntank appeared unperturbed by my unusually aggressive behavior and spoke in a mocking voice that only served to tick me off even more.

"Chaw-haw-haw! Good job!" he sneered.

"Whoa-ho-ho! You solved the mystery. You're no longer of any use to us!" Koffing added. I hissed at him angrily causing him to flinch slightly.

"H-heh-heh! We'll swipe the treasure, thanks to you two!" Zubat finished quickly as my icy glare turned to him.

Enough of this! I am roasting out here and you guys are just making me more irritable. Now move it, before I make you," I stated firmly. I had a Shadow Ball in each of my hands ready to be thrown and an Ice Beam charging at my mouth giving off a cool mist as my tone got colder at the end of my proclamation. Volt stared at me, not knowing what to do, he charged a Shockwave just in case. Skuntank seemed to be trying to analyze me. I gave off nothing for him to work with. My expression was blank and calm. He appeared unsure as to how to proceed. He could tell that this would not be an easy fight if he chose to start one. All of a sudden, a giant apple bounced towards us and landed right between us and Team Skull. I furrowed my brow slightly in confusion and ceased charging my Ice Beam although I kept my Shadow Balls in hand.

"Wait for me! My Precious Perfect Apple!" A familiar voice said. Moments later, Wigglytuff came jogging out into the clearing.

"Oh, thank goodness! My Perfect Apple is safe. If I had lost it... *sniffle* I'd... Oh! Hello, guys! Whatcha doing?" Wigglytuff asked innocently. Skuntank and his crew looked a bit uneasy. Volt decided to speak up.

"We were just on our way to Fogbound Lake, Guildmaster." Volt said. Wigglytuff beamed happily.

"Excellent! You two go on ahead!" he said cheerfully.

"Ahem... well, we should get going as well. C'mon boys!" Skuntank barked.

"Oh, no, no. Why don't we just wait here for Team Spirit to report back." Wigglytuff said waving his paw.

"But... don't you think that we should go, y'know, keep an eye on them?" Skuntank tried to protest.

"Friends, I couldn't ask that of you. I'm sure they will be fine." Wigglytuff replied. While the Guildmaster occupied Team Skull, we hurried off towards the steaming Cavern.

"Whew! I am glad that the Guildmaster got there when he did." Volt sighed. I nodded silently in agreement.

"Yeah." I said.

"Alrighty then! Let's go, whenever you are ready, Nera!" Volt said as he let me handle the inventory at the mysterious Kangaskhan Rock and we were on our way.

"Curse those Slugma!" I hissed as I breathed a small puff of ice over a burn on my left hand and munched on a Rawst berry.

* * *

Back with Wigglytuff:

"Chief, this is getting really weird..." Zubat whispered as he sweatdropped. Wigglytuff was humming a happy tune and dancing in place with a Perfect Apple balance on his head.

"Team Esprit's going to beat us to the prize if we don't do something... What should we do, Boss?" Koffing muttered to Team Skull's leader.

"Hrm... We have to do something... Grrr. We have no choice: We'll take down Wigglytuff right now and then chase after Team Esprit!" Skuntank growled. Zubat glanced at the still dancing Guildmaster and back to his leader with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"But do you think we can?" Zubat asked tentatively.

"Yeah... Wigglytuff is, like, creepy." Koffing whispered adding his two Poké to the conversation.

"Don't worry about it," Skuntank said scoffing lightly. "I'm sure he's no big deal. Besides, rumor has it Wigglytuff has an unbelievably precious treasure."

"Oh, really?! What kind of treasure?" Zubat asked curious to find out what sort of treasure Wigglytuff could be hiding. Skuntank nodded.

"That's right. i was planning on mugging him for it anyway, so this is as good of an opportunity as it's going to get." Skuntank said.

"Get ready to use Smog," he said to Koffing. _"Wigglytuff's really going to get it, chaw haw haw haw..."_

"Right," Koffing affirmed taking a deep breath. Zubat backed up out of range of the poison attack.

"NO hard feeling... but the great, famous explorer Wigglytuff is finished! Chaw-haw!" Skuntank yelled as he attacked the (seemingly) oblivious pink Pokémon.

* * *

Steam Cavern: Nera POV

"Whew! We've made it up pretty far." Volt said.

 **"GROOAAR!"** a loud roar echoed out from farther up ahead. Volt and I jumped slightly at the sound.

"Whoa, what was that!?" Volt asked no one in particular. Another Roar sounded.

"Who knows what's ahead. We should proceed with caution." I said.

"Right! We're nearly there. Let's go," Volt said with a determined expression. I nodded.

"Yes. We are nearly there," I thought to myself. "When we reach the top... we may meet Uxie at last. It may answer my big question: Who am I? Who was I before I lost my memory?"

"We've climbed far up! This place... it feels... it feels strange somehow... " Volt exclaimed. "The very air is charged with tension!" Volt grinned nervously at his joke. I shook my head with a half mock sigh of exasperation.

"This place makes my skin crawl... I feel like I'm being crushed... this strange sense of foreboding..." I thought. A loud roar interupted my thoughts causing me to start.

"Eep! It's that sound we heard earlier, Nera!" Volt yelped. Loud thudding footsteps made their way towards us at an alarmingly fast pace.

"Keep your guard up, Volt! Something big is coming!" I said as I let out a soft chilled breath trying to calm my nerves.

The footsteps were getting louder and I could practically feel the vibrations of the ground (and I was levitating). Stomping into our view came the legendary Pokémon from the statue: Groudon!

Volt and I gasped in shock but quickly put up our guards. This would not be an easy fight...

Back at the Groudon Statue:

"Hey, hey, hey!" Corphish called out. "Check this out, everyone!"

"This is it? The Groudon statue?" Chatot said as he and the rest of the guild members gathered around inspecting the statue.

"Oh! But there's no one else here!" Sunflora said as she glanced around.

"Are your really sure that you saw the Guildmaster, Corphish?" Chatot asked.

"Sure, I'm sure! I saw him when I was scuttling back to base camp." Corphish clicked his claws lightly.

"The Guildmaster dashed past, all willy-nilly, in hot pursuit of a Perfect Apple! I tried to get his attention, but he seemed to busy chasing after that apple." Corphish said.

"But I'd guess that Nera's team went ahead. So I'd bet that the Guildmaster went up after them, don't you think?" he asked Chatot. *Rumble*

"Hmm? The ground... " Diglett squeaked. ***GROOOAAR***

"What... whatever could that be?!" Chimecho asked startled.

"What an uproar!... Is it maybe..." Loudred trailed off.

"Something is going on up there! We should hurry up there!" Corphish said as he and the rest of the Guild crewmembers hurried off in the direction of the cavern entrance.

...

"Hey, Dad," Diglett said, "Did you hear something... like moaning and groaning? Just over there in that direction...," he turned towards some large bushes.

"Oh, you just imagined it! Now, let's hurry!" Dugtrio said.

"Ok." Diglett replied. The two ground-types hurried off after their Guild.

...

Over in the Bushes;

"Ouchee-yow-wow!" Zubat groaned.

"I'm d-deflated! I can't move!" Koffing coughed out.

"Hark-erk- guh... how did that happen? How did Wigglytuff shrug off our noxious-gas combo like it was nothing?" Skuntank moaned.

"And h-how did Wigglytuff strike back at us... it's un-believable... ack," Zubat said with a wince.

"Erk" Koffing groaned.

* * *

Steam Cavern Peak: Volt POV

"Waah! Wh-what is that?!" I yelped. A gigantic red and brown Pokémon with silver spikes along the sides of it's neck lumbered towards us.

"It looks like the statue! Is this- is this actually Groudon?!" I thought aloud. ***GROOAH***

"Eep!" I jumped and floated back a couple feet.

 **"YOU! HAVE YOU COME TO DESECRATE THIS PLACE? DEPART NOW OR FACE MY FURY!"** The colossal Pokémon growled.

"B- but... All we want is to go to Fogbound Lake!" I protested. The legendary looked even angrier at my declaration and took a threatening step towards us.

 **"WHAT?! FOGBOUND LAKE?! I AM THE GUARDIAN OF FOGBOUND LAKE! I AM GROUDON! AND YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE HERE ALIVE, INTRUDERS!"** Groudon roared as it lunged forward with a surprising amount of speed. I managed to dodge the strike and I saw Nera preparing an Ice Beam. I prepared a Shadow Ball and quickly fired it at the Groudon to keep it's attention on me. It worked. A bit too well. Groudon turned it's head towards me and ignored the ice attack that struck it's backside. Roaring, it stomped the ground causing sharp stones to come flying out of the ground forcing me to focus on dodging them. Taking advantage of my distracted focus, the land-mass Pokémon swiped at me with a large clawed hand. It struck me hard and I was knocked back with a cry. Nera was on top of the Groudon firing Shadow Ball and Ice Beam switching between the two attacks. It seemed to be doing enough damage for Groudon to refocus on Nera again, giving me enough time for me to get my (aching) head back into the game. I decided to try another move. One that I hadn't really used before, but was available to me: Grass knot. I focused my aura into the ground and sturdy weeds grew themselves into a thick green rope. Now all I had to do was lure it over here.

"Hey! Ugly! Over Here!" I called out spinning around like I didn't have a care in the world. Groudon let out an angry roar and lumbered towards me. I slowly backed away leading him towards the carefully hidden trap. *SNAG*

 **"GROOOH!"** Groudon roared as it's foot caught on the sturdy grass rope causing gravity to finish it's duty in bringing the beast down.

"Yes! It worked! Quickly, Nera! We need to finish this!" I said as I prepared a Shadow Ball.

"Right!" Nera replied as she prepared a Shadow Ball laced with icy sparks.

"Fire!" I shouted as I let loose my attack. Nera launched her Ice/Shadow Ball creating a small explosion as it impacted against the ground-type.

"Huff huff huff... think that got him?" I gasped. Suddenly, the Groudon started to shine brightly forcing us to avert our gaze from the harsh light. When we turned back towards where the Groudon was, it was Gone!

"Huh? It disappeared?!" I gasped.

"That was not Groudon. That Groudon was nothing more than an illusion that I conjured." An echoey voice corrected. I glanced around only to see Nera looking just as confused as me.

'Who said that?" I asked.

"Like I said earlier, I am the guardian here and I cannot allow your to pass." The voice responded not truly answering my question.

"Wait a minute! Please! We're not here to cause trouble! We only came for information!" I pleaded.

"Information, you say?" the voice inquired.

"Yes! That's the honest truth... Well, we admit that we're an exploration team... and we'd like to leave with the treasure after all our effort... But, we'll leave without any if you have a problem with that! We'll be happy to say that we just made it this far." I said. "Please! Please believe us!"

"Hmm... Well... Alright, I shall believe you." a flash of light and a small Pokémon with a light blue body and yellow head appeared. There was a red gem on it's forehead as well as on each of it's individual tails.

"Let me welcome you then. I am Uxie, the guardian of Fogbound Lake.

"You're Uxie!?" I exclaimed. The psychic type nodded.

"Yes, truly. Now, let me escort you to Fogbound Lake. Please, come this way." it said as it floated in the direction that the illusion Groudon had come from. The seemingly rocky wall shimmered before disappearing revealing a short tunnel.

"Wow, it's become dark outside!" I said.

"It may be a little difficult to see at night, but... Behold: Fogbound Lake!" Uxie said with pride evident in it's tone.

"Wow! That's incredible! Who'd expect to see such a big lake on a plateau so high up? And those floating Volbeat and Illumise... So beautiful!" I said in a hushed tone.

"Water constantly wells up from far below this place. It flows up so heavily that it has log formed this enormous lake. Now cast your eyes to the glowing area at the lake's center." Uxie said. I looked carefully at the fountain of water and saw a bright blue green glow not created by the lights of the floating Pokémon.

"Yes, I see it! It's radiating from below. That blue green radiance, right?" I asked. Nera stiffened beside me slightly and stared at the glow with a strange glimmer in her eye. I blinked and it was gone, as was the tension that I thought I felt from her.

* * *

Nera's POV:

"... Is that- can it be-?!" I wondered feeling both excitement and fear. I caught Volt's glance in my direction and forced the tension in my body to subside.

"That's fantastic! But... What is that? It has such a mystical quality!" Volt said.

"That is a Time Gear." Uxie replied.

"What?! That's a Time Gear!?" Volt exclaimed.

"Yes. I guard the Time Gear. It is the sole reason I'm here." Uxie said before turning around to face us with a solemn expression.

"Others before you have tried to trespass here. But I used my Groudon illusion to chase most of them off." it continued. I nodded. It made sense. Uxie was clearly a powerful psychic type, so creating such a realistic illusion made sense. I had read that Froslass could do something similar, though not quite on the scale of "creating" a legendary Pokémon.

"Like so." Uxie said as his eyes glowed with psychic power. A flickering form of Groudon appeared startling Volt and I. I recovered swiftly and took note of the impressive detail of the construct. It was very convincing, flickering aside, of course.

"There have been others before who defeated my Groudon illusion and managed to make their way to this spot. But they were trespassers! So I took away their memories... and, thus, protected the lake.

"Took away their memories...? Oh! That's right! We were hoping to ask you something, Uxie!" Volt said remembering about what we came here to meet Uxie for.

"Hmm?" Uxie prompted.

"This is Nera! She is a Pokémon now, but she was once a human!" Volt said. I floated forward and followed Uxie's movements as it observed me.

"Really? A human?" it asked sounding intrigued.

"Yes! But... she has lost all memory of being a human." Volt said.

"Not all of my memories..." I muttered. Volt grinned sheepishly realizing his mistake.

"So anyway, we were wondering... have you maybe met Nera before, Uxie? Did you take away Nera's memory?" Volt asked. I nearly sweatdropped at his borderline accusing question. Uxie appeared amused at the boldness of my friend.

"No. No human has ever come here. I should explain further... you see, I erase only the memories that involve Fogbound Lake. I cannot erase anybodies entire memory nor do I have the power to change a human into a Pokémon." Uxie replied.

"Oh, I see. That's alright. So it doesn't seem like you've been here after all, Nera. I hoped that we could learn more about you-," Volt said cut off by the sound of scuttling.

"What's that? A Time Gear! A Time Gear! Well, too bad! We can't take a Time Gear!" Wigglytuff said as he walked up to us.

"W-Wigglytuff!" Volt blurted out.

"Wow! Fantastic!" Wigglytuff said as he gazed out at the lake.

"And who might this be?" Uxie asked.

"That's our Guildmaster!" Volt answered. Wigglytuff spun around to face Uxie with a big smile.

"Glad to meet your, friend~!" Wigglytuff said cheerfully.

"I'm delighted we came here!" Wigglytuff said as he continued to admire the view.

"Whew! Here we are at last!" Sunflora said.

"No time to catch our breath. We've got to hurry!" Dugtrio said.

"Hey, hey! Someone's over there!" Corphish said excitedly.

"Let's go!" Chatot said leading the rest of the Guild-members onward. They jumped back startled as they nearly ran into the illusion Groudon.

There was panic for a moment until Wigglytuff came over and soothed their fears. It was sorta funny how they all were freaking out over a flickering image.

"Come over here!" Wigglytuff urged. The rest of the group let out a collective sigh of relief and joined us near the edge of the water. They 'oohed' and 'awed' at the magnificent sight.

"The treasure... The treasure must be the view of Fogbound Lake!" Wigglytuff said.

"Are you taking in this view, Nera? This is so magical! It's really too bad that we didn't learn anything about your past, Nera. But I'm glad we came! I'm happy that I got to see such a beautiful scene with everyone!"

"I'm glad I got to see this wonderful view too. Sure, it's true we never learned anything more about who I am..." I trailed off.

"The Time Gear of Fogbound Lake! It truly shines in the water. It is a shame that we will have to freeze such a beautiful place even if it is only for a short time..." I thought. A memory stirred.

 _*Flashback*_

 _"This must have looked amazing when the water was flowing...," my voice said with sadness lacing its tone._

 _"Yes... It must have... And we can see it when we go back-" the other voice was cut off..._

 _*Flashback End*_

I blinked.

"-orry to have disturbed you! We had a fantastic time! Friend~" Wigglytuff was saying to Uxie.

"I shall not take away your memories of this place. You have earned my trust. But I must ask that you keep this place a secret." Uxie said.

"Surely! Thank you! We all know what we need to do! You know, another Time Gear has been stolen. This one must stay safe! We won't ever say a word about this place. I swear it in the name of Wigglytuff's Guild!" Wigglytuff proclaimed.

"Please hold true to that promise." Uxie said his squinting eyes passed over each of us.

"Ok! Let's be on our way! Chatot, if you will!" Wigglytuff said to the flying type.

"Alright! Everyone, we're going back to the guild!" Chatot called out.

"HOORAY!" We all shouted.

We headed back to the guild. The following morning, Team Esprit received mail saying that our bag was upgraded and that there was more room for items (still not quite sure how that works). It was back to business as usual with an added reminder to not talk about the real treasure of Fogbound Lake outside of the Guild. Volt and I were getting ready to go when we heard Loudred making an uproar (pardon the pun) about something.

"WHAT!? You can't identify the footprint?! What do you MEAN?!" Loudred groused.

"I'm trying to tell you! I can't identify what I don't know...," Diglett shot back in protest. Chatot, me, and Volt hurried over to the sentry tunnel.

"What's wrong?" Chatot asked sharply.

"We have a Pokémon visitor up top whose footprint we can't identify! Diglett is an outstanding sentry so it's rare for him to be stumped by footprints!" Loudred said.

"If THOSE two were doing sentry duty, that'd be no shocker..." he went on but quickly trailed off as he saw my glare. I was a great sentry. I didn't make any mistakes. Sure, it may have taken me a moment or two, but really, with over 700 Pokémon to choose from, that was hard.

"...? Hmmm? ... Say again? You want to meet our Guildmaster? Your name is... Dusknoir?!" Diglett's voice exclaimed. I froze. Dusknoir? Dusknoir?! DUSKNOIR!?

"NO!" I mentally screamed panicking inside. Bits of memories flashed through my mind. Snippets of conversation with Grovyle. Fighting against a horde of Sablye. Dusknoir watching from the sidelines as me and Grovyle were attacked by the cackling Dark-Ghost-type Pokémon. I blacked out.

 **To Be Continued...**

 **xxx**

 **A/N: Finally! I have started the changes in Plot! Please let me know what you think of my story so far!**


End file.
